MxL: Pseudo-maskless, high-throughput nanolithography

A novel chemical procedure is described that presents, for the first time, a dissolvable template (as opposed to a hard or soft template) for printing. The method, called Molecular Transfer Lithography (MxL), is a pseudo-maskless approach to high-throughput fabrication of devices over large areas with feature sizes that can extend below 100 nm. The MxL procedure utilizes a chemical process that replicates the surface topography of a master pattern into soluble polymeric templates. The template is dissolvable in water but not most organic materials. This property of differential solubility is useful for transferring topography or functional materials onto substrate surfaces. The template is generally chemically dissolved at the conclusion of the pattern formation process. The paper presents a variety of printing strategies and results including lines at 53 urn, three-dimensional patterns, 250 rim contact hole levels, diffraction and optical structures and 200 turn wafer printing. The technique is also useful for planarization. Multi-level printing is achieved by integration of the MxL process and dissolvable templates with standard contact aligners.