Inorganic Resist Film for Submicron Structure Fabrication

The current study employs an inexpensive thermal lithography technique to fabricate submicron size structures for applications in blu-ray optical disks and other optoelectronics. A heat buffer layer and an inorganic resist layer of Ge- Sb-Sn-O are sequentially deposited on a pre-grooved polycarbonate substrate. Laser irradiation is then carried out by a laser beam recording system with wavelength of 405 nm and numerical aperture of 0.65. The size of features can be controlled by regulating laser power and development parameters while taking resist thickness and heat removal of thin film structure into consideration. Minimum feature size of 175 nm in width and 107 nm in depth is obtained. It has overcome the optical diffraction limit of irradiation laser spot. Furthermore, dot patterns can be prepared using laser pulse strategy.