Fabrication of hp 32 nm resist patterns using near-field lithography

Near-field lithography (NFL) has no fundamental limit such as the diffraction limit of light. However, in order to fabricate resist patterns with hp 32 nm, thorough optimization of various processes are indispensable. Previously, we reported on the use of fine and ultra-thin top-layer resist, and designs and fabrication of our special masks. In this paper, the effect of the total resist thickness on the near-field distribution is analyzed by the finite-difference time domain analyses and compared with our experiments. For the fabrication of hp 32 nm patterns, the total resist thickness as well as the tri-layer resist process are accordingly optimized. By the near-field exposure using an i-line mercury lamp and the dry-etching process for thin top-layer photo-resist, we have successfully fabricated the hp 32 nm resist pattern of 120 nm height.