Photolithography is a process used in the manufacturing of integrated circuits. It involves using light to transfer a pattern onto a substrate, typically a silicon wafer.
A photoresist is a light-sensitive material used in several processes, such as photolithography and photoengraving, to form a patterned coating on a surface. This process is crucial in the electronics industry.
An excimer laser, sometimes more correctly called an exciplex laser, is a form of ultraviolet laser which is commonly used in the production of microelectronic devices, semiconductor based integrated circuits or "chips", eye surgery, and micromachining.
Electron-beam lithography is the practice of scanning a focused beam of electrons to draw custom shapes on a surface covered with an electron-sensitive film called a resist (exposing). The electron beam changes the solubility of the resist, enabling selective removal of either the exposed or non-exposed regions of the resist by immersing it in a solvent (developing). The purpose, as with photolithography, is to create very small structures in the resist that can subsequently be transferred to the substrate material, often by etching.
Alec Nigel Broers, Baron Broers is a British electrical engineer.
Masklesslithography (MPL) is a photomask-less photolithography-like technology used to project or focal-spot write the image pattern onto a chemical resist-coated substrate by means of UV radiation or electron beam.
Nanolithography (NL) is a growing field of techniques within nanotechnology dealing with the engineering of nanometer-scale structures on various materials.
Extreme ultraviolet lithography is a technology used in the semiconductor industry for manufacturing integrated circuits (ICs). It is a type of photolithography that uses 13.5 nm extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light from a laser-pulsed tin (Sn) plasma to create intricate patterns on semiconductor substrates.
Next-generation lithography or NGL is a term used in integrated circuit manufacturing to describe the lithography technologies in development which are intended to replace current techniques. Driven by Moore's law in the semiconductor industries, the shrinking of the chip size and critical dimension continues. The term applies to any lithography method which uses a shorter-wavelength light or beam type than the current state of the art, such as X-ray lithography, electron beam lithography, focused ion beam lithography, and nanoimprint lithography. The term may also be used to describe techniques which achieve finer resolution features from an existing light wavelength.
Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a method of fabricating nanometer-scale patterns. It is a simple nanolithography process with low cost, high throughput and high resolution. It creates patterns by mechanical deformation of imprint resist and subsequent processes. The imprint resist is typically a monomer or polymer formulation that is cured by heat or UV light during the imprinting. Adhesion between the resist and the template is controlled to allow proper release.
Extreme ultraviolet radiation or high-energy ultraviolet radiation is electromagnetic radiation in the part of the electromagnetic spectrum spanning wavelengths shorter than the hydrogen Lyman-alpha line from 121 nm down to the X-ray band of 10 nm. By the Planck–Einstein equation the EUV photons have energies from 10.26 eV up to 124.24 eV where we enter the X-ray energies. EUV is naturally generated by the solar corona and artificially by plasma, high harmonic generation sources and synchrotron light sources. Since UVC extends to 100 nm, there is some overlap in the terms.
Interference lithography is a technique for patterning regular arrays of fine features, without the use of complex optical systems or photomasks.
A MEMS electrothermal actuator is a microelectromechanical device that typically generates motion by thermal expansion. It relies on the equilibrium between the thermal energy produced by an applied electric current and the heat dissipated into the environment or the substrate. Its working principle is based on resistive heating. Fabrication processes for electrothermal actuators include deep X-ray lithography, LIGA, and deep reactive ion etching (DRIE). These techniques allow for the creation of devices with high aspect ratios. Additionally, these actuators are relatively easy to fabricate and are compatible with standard Integrated Circuits (IC) and MEMS fabrication methods. These electrothermal actuators can be utilized in different kind of MEMS devices like microgrippers, micromirrors, tunable inductors and resonators.
A silsesquioxane is an organosilicon compound with the chemical formula [RSiO3/2]n. Silsesquioxanes are colorless solids that adopt cage-like or polymeric structures with Si-O-Si linkages and tetrahedral Si vertices. Silsesquioxanes are members of polyoctahedral silsesquioxanes ("POSS"), which have attracted attention as preceramic polymer precursors to ceramic materials and nanocomposites. Diverse substituents (R) can be attached to the Si centers. The molecules are unusual because they feature an inorganic silicate core and an organic exterior. The silica core confers rigidity and thermal stability.
X-ray lithography is a process used in semiconductor device fabrication industry to selectively remove parts of a thin film of photoresist. It uses X-rays to transfer a geometric pattern from a mask to a light-sensitive chemical photoresist, or simply "resist," on the substrate to reach extremely small topological size of a feature. A series of chemical treatments then engraves the produced pattern into the material underneath the photoresist.
Thermal scanning probe lithography (t-SPL) is a form of scanning probe lithography (SPL) whereby material is structured on the nanoscale using scanning probes, primarily through the application of thermal energy.
In nanotechnology, carbon nanotube interconnects refer to the proposed use of carbon nanotubes in the interconnects between the elements of an integrated circuit. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be thought of as single atomic layer graphite sheets rolled up to form seamless cylinders. Depending on the direction on which they are rolled, CNTs can be semiconducting or metallic. Metallic carbon nanotubes have been identified as a possible interconnect material for the future technology generations and to replace copper interconnects. Electron transport can go over long nanotube lengths, 1 μm, enabling CNTs to carry very high currents (i.e. up to a current density of 109 A∙cm−2) with essentially no heating due to nearly one dimensional electronic structure. Despite the current saturation in CNTs at high fields, the mitigation of such effects is possible due to encapsulated nanowires.
Iminoboranes comprise a group of organoboron compounds with the formula RB=NR'. They are electronically related to acetylenes but are usually more reactive due to the polarity.
Nickel silicides include several intermetallic compounds of nickel and silicon. Nickel silicides are important in microelectronics as they form at junctions of nickel and silicon. Additionally thin layers of nickel silicides may have application in imparting surface resistance to nickel alloys.
Laura Jane Heyderman is a physicist, materials scientist, academic and Professor of Mesoscopic Systems at the Department of Materials, ETH Zurich and Paul Scherrer Institute. Her research is focused on magnetism and magnetic materials.
