248 nm imaging photolithography assisted by surface plasmon polariton interference

A new photolithography technique for 248 nm based on the interference of surface plasmon waves is proposed and demonstrated by using computer simulations. The basic structure consists of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) interference mask and multi-layer film superlens. Using the amplification effect of superlens on evanescent wave, the near field SPP interference pattern is imaged to the far field, and then is exposed on photo resist (PR). The simulation results based on finite difference time domain (FDTD) method show that the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the interference pattern is about 19 nm when the p-polarization light from 248 nm source is vertically incident to the structure. Meanwhile, the focal depth is 150 nm for negative PR and 60 nm for positive PR, which is much greater than that in usual SPP photolithography. © 2014 Tianjin University of Technology and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.