A Silicon-Based, Sequential Coat-and-Etch Process to Fabricate Nearly Perfect Substrate Surfaces [electronic resource].

Published:: Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 2005.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy.
Physical Description:: PDF-file: 31 pages; size: 2.1 Mbytes
Additional Creators:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, United States. Department of Energy, and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information

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Summary:

For many thin-film applications substrate imperfections such as particles, pits, scratches, and general roughness, can nucleate film defects which can severely detract from the coating's performance. Previously we developed a coat-and-etch process, termed the ion beam thin film planarization process, to planarize substrate particles up to ≈ 70 nm in diameter. The process relied on normal incidence etching; however, such a process induces defects nucleated by substrate pits to grow much larger. We have since developed a coat-and-etch process to planarize ≈70 nm deep by 70 nm wide substrate pits; it relies on etching at an off-normal incidence angle, i.e., an angle of ≈ 70{sup o} from the substrate normal. However, a disadvantage of this pit smoothing process is that it induces defects nucleated by substrate particles to grow larger. Combining elements from both processes we have been able to develop a silicon-based, coat-and-etch process to successfully planarize ≈70 nm substrate particles and pits simultaneously to at or below 1 nm in height; this value is important for applications such as extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) masks. The coat-and-etch process has an added ability to significantly reduce high-spatial frequency roughness, rendering a nearly perfect substrate surface.

Report Numbers:

E 1.99:ucrl-jrnl-213403
ucrl-jrnl-213403

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Published through SciTech Connect.
07/05/2005.
"ucrl-jrnl-213403"
Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, vol. 6, no. 1, January 1, 2006, pp. 28 FT
Robinson, J C; Baker, S L; Stearns, D G; Liddle, J A; Mirkarimi, P B; Spiller, E; Liang, T; Olynick, D L; Stivers, A R; Salmassi, F.

Funding Information:

W-7405-ENG-48

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