Metal–organic materials such as [NH2(CH2–CHCH2)2][Cr7NiF8(Pivalate)16] can act as negative
tone resists
for electron beam lithography (EBL) with high-resolution patterning
of sub-40 nanometer pitch while exhibiting ultrahigh dry etch selectivities
>100:1 and giving line dose exposures >11,000 pC/cm. It is clear
that
the resist sensitivity is too low to be used to manufacture the latest
nanoscale photomasks that are suitable for extreme ultraviolet lithography.
Therefore, the focus of this work here is to improve the sensitivity
of this resist while maintaining its resolution and dry etch selectivity.
Using our latest Monte Carlo simulation called Excalibur, we predict
that the sensitivity would increase by a factor of 1.4 when the nickel
atom is substituted by a cadmium atom. EBL studies showed an excellent
agreement with the simulation, and plasma etching studies demonstrated
that this did not affect the dry etch performance of the resist which
remains very good with a selectively of ca. 99:1 for the etching of
silicon at these resolutions with a low sensitivity of 7995 pC/cm.
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