Fabrication of half-pitch 32 nm resist patterns using near-field lithography with a-Si mask

We evaluated the performances of Cr and amorphous Si (a-Si) films as light absorber materials for photomasks of near-field lithography on the basis of numerical studies using finite-difference time domain method and experimental results of fabrication process. With exposure experiments using both a Cr mask and an a-Si mask, fine performance of an a-Si near-field mask was demonstrated with respect to resolution. A half-pitch 32 nm resist pattern of 120 nm high was fabricated through the near-field lithography using the a-Si mask and a subsequent trilayer resist process. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.