Vibrational Band Near Field Optical Imaging of Polymer Photoresists

该项目通过红外近场光学显微镜(IR NSOM)和相干反斯托克斯拉曼光谱(CARS)显微镜处理聚合物光致抗蚀剂。这些方法允许在光致抗蚀剂处理的不同阶段访问聚合物膜中的潜像。一个关键的方面是通过观察聚合物薄膜中的化学修饰振动带来在空间和化学上探测薄膜。该项目涉及与IBM Almaden、William Hinsberg和France Houle的科学家积极合作，他们还提供根据实验的特殊要求量身定做的深紫外线、化学放大的聚合物光刻胶。该项目涉及探测线尺寸、酸扩散、蒸汽吸收的影响以及其他深紫外光聚合物光刻化学的实验。该项目解决与具有技术相关性的电子/光子材料相关的基础研究问题。这项工作对社会的更广泛影响是，为解决超小特征尺寸问题，开发了测量线尺寸和后续化学过程的新方法。这些研究的结果有助于工业界为社会制造更便宜、更强大的工具。通过与IBM的William Hinsberg和France Houle在这一特定项目上的积极合作，学生们学习了基本的团队合作技能，以及如何应对学术环境以外的额外挑战和最后期限。学生接受各种重要技术的培训，包括激光、光学、光致抗蚀剂化学和纳米级测量。

This project addresses polymer photoresist processing through infrared near field optical micros-copy (IR NSOM) and Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy (CARS) microscopy. These methods permit access to latent images in the polymer film at various stages in the photoresist processing. A key aspect is to probe the films spatially and chemically through observations of chemically modified vibrational bands within the polymer films. The project involves an active collaboration with scientists at IBM Almaden, William Hinsberg and Frances Houle, who also provide deep ultraviolet, chemically amplified polymer photoresists tailored to special require-ments of the experiments. The project involves experiments to probe line dimensions, acid diffu-sion, the influence of vapor uptake, and other deep UV polymer lithographic chemistries.The project addresses fundamental research issues associated with electronic/photonic materials having technological relevance. Broader impacts of this work to society are that new methods of measuring line dimensions and for following chemical processes are developed to address ultra-small feature sizes. The results of these studies assist industry in making less expensive and more powerful tools for society. Through the active collaboration with William Hinsberg and Frances Houle at IBM on this particular project, students learn essential teamwork skills and how to be responsive to additional challenges and deadlines outside the academic environment. Students are trained in a variety of important technologies, including lasers, optics, photoresist chemistry, and nanoscale measurements.