2008 Articles

Development and Evaluation of a 193nm Immersion Generation-Three Fluid Candidates

Zimmerman, Paul A.; Byers, Jeff; Rice, Bryan; Ober, Christopher K.; Giannelis, Emmanuel P.; Rodriguez, Robert; Wang, Dongyan; O'Connor, Naphtali; Lei, Xuegong; Turro, Nicholas J.; Liberman, Vladimir; Palmacci, Stephen; Rothschild, Mordechai; Lafferty, Neal; Smith, Bruce W.

The need to extend 193nm immersion lithography necessitates the development of a third generation (Gen-3) of high refractive index (RI) fluids that will enable approximately 1.7 numerical aperture (NA) imaging. A multi-pronged approach was taken to develop these materials. One approach investigated the highest-index organic thus far discovered. The second approach used a very high refractive index nanoparticle to make a nanocomposite fluid. This report will describe the chemistry of the best Gen-3 fluid candidates and the systematic approach to their identification and synthesis. Images obtained with the Gen-3 fluid candidates will also be presented for a NA ≥ 1.7.