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Nanolithography using high transmission nanoscale bowtie apertures
Liang Wang1, Sreemanth M Uppuluri, Eric X Jin
1School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
Nano Letters
|March 9, 2006
Summary
Bowtie apertures enable nanometer-scale resolution in contact lithography. These structures concentrate light, allowing the creation of sub-50-nm holes in photoresist with a 355 nm laser.
Area of Science:
- Nanotechnology
- Optical Engineering
- Materials Science
Background:
- Contact lithography is crucial for fabricating nanoscale devices.
- Achieving sub-50-nm resolution in lithography presents significant challenges.
- Existing aperture designs have limitations in light manipulation and resolution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the use of bowtie apertures for high-resolution contact lithography.
- To demonstrate the capability of bowtie apertures in producing sub-50-nm features.
- To analyze the optical properties and performance of bowtie apertures compared to conventional shapes.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of bowtie apertures with a 30 nm gap in aluminum thin films on quartz.
- Illumination of apertures with a 355 nm laser beam polarized across the gap.
- Characterization of lithography results to determine feature dimensions.
- Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations for optical analysis.
Main Results:
- Successful fabrication of bowtie apertures with precise nanometer-scale gaps.
- Production of holes with sub-50-nm dimensions in photoresist using bowtie apertures.
- Demonstration of enhanced light transmission and concentration by bowtie apertures.
- Experimental results corroborated by FDTD simulations, explaining optical enhancement.
Conclusions:
- Bowtie apertures are effective for high-resolution contact lithography.
- The unique geometry of bowtie apertures enhances light concentration for nanoscale fabrication.
- This technique offers a promising route for cost-effective, high-resolution patterning.
