The link between nanoscale feature development in a negative resist and the Hansen solubility sphere

Abstract

By systematically studying development of a high resolution, negative electron beam resist, hexa-methyl acetoxy calix(6)arene, we have elicited a more general understanding of the underlying development mechanisms for negative resists. Using the three dimensional Hansen solubility parameters for more than 40 solvents, we have constructed a Hansen solubility sphere (HSS). From this sphere, we have estimated the Flory Huggins interaction parameter for solvents with hexa-methyl acetoxy calix(6)arene and found a correlation between resist development contrast, nanoscale patterned feature quality, and the polymer-solvent solubility. Conducting Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in a liquid cell, we have measured swelling for hexamethyl acetoxy calix(6)arene in four solvents. The swelling measurements indicate that the HSS gives an indication of the Flory-Huggins interaction parameter. These measurements provide new insights into the development behavior of nanoscale features -necessary for obtaining the ultimate lithographic resolution. In addition, it demonstrates a methodology for choosing appropriate polymer-solvent combinations for nanoscience applications.

Facile and sustainable functionalization of graphene layers with pyrrole compounds

“…The sphere center coordinates correspond to the three unknown HSP of the solute. The fitting sphere program was adapted from [60] and solved in Matlab environment using the NelderMead simplex algorithm.…”

Chemically amplified phenolic fullerene electron beam resist

“…The correlation of aggressive solvent with high resolution but reduced pattern quality has been noted elsewhere. 45 Developer temperature and ultrasonic-assisted development have been shown to affect the quality of patterns in polymeric resists. Fig.…”

Determination of Solubility Parameters for Organic Semiconductor Formulations

“…HSP was already successfully applied to different systems like polymer/multi-walled carbon nanotube composites, napthenic mineral oils, or the negative electron beam resist hexamethylacetoxycalyx(6)-arene . [14][15][16] In the field of organic semiconductors HSP was not used until recently when Hansen and Smith analyzed pristine C 60 and Walker et al analyzed the conjugated polymer 3,6-bis(5-(benzofuran-2-yl)thiophen-2-yl)-2,5-bis(2-ethylhexyl)pyrrolo [3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione (DPP(TBFu) 2 ) and [6,6]-phenyl-C 71 -butyric acid methyl ester (PC 71 BM). [17,18] The term solubility parameter was first described by Hildebrand and Scott.…”