AN INTEGRATED PROCESS FOR PRODUCING COMMERCIAL DIAMOND X-RAY LITHOGRAPHY MASKS

CVD DIAMOND MEMBRANES WHICH ARE TRANSPARENT TO VISIBLE LIGHT ARE NOW BEING ROUTINELY PRODUCED AT CRYSTALLUME FOR USE IN X-RAY LITHOGRAPHY. THE PROGRAM DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL WILL GO BEYOND GENERAL MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND WILL UTILIZE MECHANICAL MODELING TO DETERMINE THE SPECIFIC MEMBRANE/ABSORBER REQUIREMENTS FOR OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE OF DIAMOND MEMBRANE MASKS. USING A PROJECT TEAM INVOLVING CRYSTALLUME, SVG LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEMS, DUPONT PHOTOMASK DIVISION, AND UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, AN INTEGRATED DIAMOND MASK FABRICATIONPROCESS WILL BE ANALYZED. IN PARTICULAR, TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN MATERIAL, EQUIPMENT, AND PATTERNING PROTOCOLS WILL BE EXAMINED, THE BEST ABSORBER SYSTEM FOR DIAMOND MEMBRANE MASK WILL BE IDENTIFIED, AND THE ECONOMIC BASIS FOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION WILL BE ESTABLISHED. ONCE ESTABLISHED, THIS BASE-LINE PROCESS WILL BE EVALUATED AGAINST DIFFERENT X-RAYLITHOGRAPHY PROCESS ALTERNATIVES AND EQUIPMENT APPROACHES. IN PHASE II, PROTOTYPE MASK SAMPLES WILL BE FABRICATED FOR THIRD PARTY EVALUATION AND CHARACTERIZATION. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - X-RAY LITHOGRAPHY RELIES ON THE EXISTENCE OF A ROBUST, ACCURATE MASK SYSTEM TO TRANSFER PATTERNS TO SILICON AND GAAS SUBSTRATES. DIAMOND IS A LEADING CANDIDATE MATERIAL FOR MEMBRANES USED IN X-RAY MASKS. HOWEVER, IT IS NECESSARY TO EXAMINE THE TRADE-OFFS AMONG VARIOUS ELEMENTS OF THE DIAMOND MASK-MAKING PROCESS. THIS PROJECT WILL PERMIT THE INTEGRATION OF INDIVIDUAL MEMBRANE, PATTERNING, AND STEPPER TECHNOLOGIES INTO A WORKABLE PROCESS SUITABLE FOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION.