Patterning via optical saturable transitions

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Publication Type dissertation
School or College College of Engineering
Department Electrical & Computer Engineering
Author Cantu, Precious
Title Patterning via optical saturable transitions
Date 2015-08
Description For the past 40 years, optical lithography has been the patterning workhorse for the semiconductor industry. However, as integrated circuits have become more and more complex, and as device geometries shrink, more innovative methods are required to meet these needs. In the far-field, the smallest feature that can be generated with light is limited to approximately half the wavelength. This so-called far-field diffraction limit or the Abbe limit (after Prof. Ernst Abbe who first recognized this) effectively prevents the use of long-wavelength photons (>300nm) from patterning nanostructures (<100nm). Even with a 193nm laser source and extremely complicated processing, patterns below ~ 20nm are incredibly challenging to create. Sources with even shorter wavelengths can potentially be used. However, these tend to be much more expensive and of much lower brightness, which in turn limits their patterning speed. Multi-photon reactions have been proposed to overcome the diffraction limit. However, these require very large intensities for modest gain in resolution. Moreover, the large intensities make it difficult to parallelize, thus limiting the patterning speed. In this dissertation, a novel nanopatterning technique using wavelength-selective small molecules that undergo single-photon reactions, enabling rapid top-down nanopatterning over large areas at low-light intensities, thereby allowing for the circumvention of the far-field diffraction barrier, is developed and experimentally verified. This approach, which I refer to as Patterning via Optical Saturable Transitions (POST) has the potential for massive parallelism, enabling the creation of nanostructures and devices at a speed far surpassing what is currently possible with conventional optical lithographic techniques. The fundamental understanding of this technique goes beyond optical lithography in the semiconductor industry and is applicable to any area that requires the rapid patterning of large-area two- or three-dimensional complex geometries. At a basic level, this research intertwines the fields of electrochemistry, material science, electrical engineering, optics, physics, and mechanical engineering with the goal of developing a novel super-resolution lithographic technique.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Diffraction; Lithography; Nanopatterning; Optical nanolithography; Optics; Photochromic
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name Doctor of Philosophy
Language eng
Rights Management Copyright © Precious Cantu 2015
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 2,902,711 Bytes
Identifier etd3/id/3769
ARK ark:/87278/s60039dr
Setname ir_etd
ID 197320
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s60039dr