Cryogenic etching for pattern transfer into silicon of Mix-and-Match structured resist layers

Abstract A Mix-and-Match lithography method for a high-resolution, high-precision and cost effective lithography tool using DLW and FE-SPL was developed and successfully realized. The pattern transfer from the photoresist to the silicon substrate is done by so-called “cryogenic etching”. It means that the substrate is cooled down to cryogenic temperatures. In contrast to etching processes at standard room temperature, the cryogenic temperatures (below −100 °C) enable a highly anisotropic etching process. The difference between etching at room temperature compared to cryogenic etching is carried out in this work. The advantages of the etching process are highlighted for the pattern transfer from Mix-and-Match-structured samples. Therefore, the used photoresist mr-P 1201LIL (microresist technologies GmbH) has been examined concerning its silicon-to-resist selectivity which could be determined to be 6:1 for the applied etching recipe. Using cryogenic etching, we are now able to transfer the Mix-and-Match-structured patterns into silicon with appreciable high selectivities. This opens a novel pathway for the manufacturing of quantum devices on large wafers. The paper discusses current research results based on the TU Ilmenau Nanopositioning and Nanomeasuring Machines (NPMM) including the novel application of nanofabrication. First, the basic setup and the resulting benefits of the NPMMs for measuring and fabrication in a working volume of up to 200 mm × 200 mm × 25 mm while abiding nanometer accuracy is described. This is in contradiction to state-of-the-art AFM scanners, which have a limited working range of appr. 100 μm × 100 μm. Next, the principle and the results of different nanofabrication technologies are shown. These include Scanning Probe Lithography (SPL), Direct Laser Writing (DLW) and UV-nanoimprint lithography (NIL). Last, efforts for further improving the feature placement accuracy of the NPMMs as well as attempts to combine several fabrication technologies to improve their throughput are touched on.