Exposure of 38 nm period grating patterns with extreme ultraviolet interferometric lithography

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV, lambda = 13 nm) lithography is considered to be the most likely technology to follow ultraviolet (optical) lithography. One of the challenging aspects is the development of suitable resist materials and processes. This development requires the ability to produce high-resolution patterns. Until now, this ability has been severely limited by the lack of sources and imaging systems. We report printing of 38 nm period grating patterns by interferometric lithography technique with EUV light. A Lloyd's Mirror interferometer was used, reflecting part of an incident beam with a mirror at grazing incidence and letting it interfere with the direct beam at the wafer plane. High-density fringes (38 nm pitch) were easily produced. Monochromatized light of 13 nm wavelength from an undulator in an electron storage ring provided the necessary temporal and spatial coherence along with sufficient intensity flux. This simple technique can be extended to sub-10 nm resolution. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)02841-7].