An Investigation of Polyoxometalate Hybrid Materials as Patternable Dielectrics and Lithographic Resists

Polyoxometalate (POM) hybrid materials have shown potential as spin-coatable, patternable dielectric thin-films and components for lithographic resists. In particular, the octamolybdate cluster has been shown to possess good spin-coating properties and the patterning capabilities of hybrid octamolybdate thin-films were explored using a combination of broadband UV and electron beam lithography (EBL) techiniques. Dielectric properties of these films were determined by ellipsometry, and octamolybdate clusters were subsequently investigated as negative resists in various blends for potential uses in next-generation photolithography, where contrast, sensitivity, and line edge roughness characteristics were determined. Preliminary evidence for the suppression of the diffusion of photo-generated acids is presented.