Apparatus and method of direct writing with photons beyond the diffraction limit using two-color resist

摘要

Methods of and apparatus for performing direct-write lithography in a two-color photoresist layer are disclosed. The method includes exposing the two-color photoresist layer with transducer and inhibition images that respectively define bright spots and dark spots. The transducer image generates excited-state photo-molecules while the inhibition image converts the exited-state photo-molecules to an unexcited state that is not susceptible to conversion to an irreversible exposed state. The dark spots and bright spots are aligned, with the dark spots being smaller than the bright spots so that a portion of the excited-state photo-molecules adjacent the periphery of the bright spots absorb the inhibition radiation and transition to the unexcited state while a portion of the excited photo-molecules at the center of bright spots are not exposed to the inhibition light and transition to an irreversible exposed state. This forms in the two-color photoresist layer a pattern of sub-resolution photoresist pixels.

主权项

1. A method of performing direct-write lithography in a two-color photoresist layer that contains photo-molecules that are initially in an unexcited state, comprising:
exposing the two-color photoresist layer with a transducer image formed from exposure radiation having an exposure wavelength and comprising a first array of bright spots each having a periphery, with the exposure radiation associated with the bright spots exciting corresponding photo-molecules in the two-color photoresist layer to an excited state, thereby generating excited-state photo-molecules that are susceptible to absorption by inhibition radiation having an inhibition wavelength; and exposing the two-color photoresist layer with an inhibition image comprising the inhibition radiation having the inhibition wavelength, the inhibition image defining an array of dark spots that are aligned with the bright spots of the transducer image and that are smaller than the bright spots so that a portion of the excited-state photo-molecules adjacent the periphery of the bright spots absorb the inhibition radiation and transition to an unexcited state that is not susceptible to conversion to an irreversible exposed state while a portion of the excited photo-molecules at the center of bright spots are not exposed to the inhibition light and transition to an irreversible exposed state, thereby forming in the two-color photoresist a set of sub-resolution photoresist pixels each having a size smaller than would be formed in the absence of the dark spots.