Nanostructuring with EUV Radiation

An EUV beam focussing system as presented in the EUV-Optics section was used to investigate the interaction of pulsed soft X-ray radiation with matter for high resolution and direct structuring. This included the generation of color centers in LiF, direct photo-etching of polymers (e.g. PMMA) as well as the determination of the sensitivity of photoresists in the EUV range.

: EUV direct structuring by means of generation of color centers in a LiF crystal (left) and photo-etching of a PMMA surface with EUV radiation (right). The diameter of the working spots was 5 µm and 1 µm respectively.

: Diffraction of an EUV radiation: The diffractive element consisted of an etched stainless steel grid placed in front of the Schwarzschild objective. The imaging of a pinhole leads to a diffraction pattern on the PMMA probe. Left: AFM imagings of the ablation profile. Right: Comparison with a simulation

Further reading:

F. Barkusky, C. Peth, K. Mann, T. Feigl, N. Kaiser: Formation and Direct Writing of Color Centers in LiF using a Laser-Induced Extreme Ultraviolet Plasma in Combination With a Schwarzschild Objective, Rev. Sci. Instr., 76, 105102 (2005)

F. Barkusky, C. Peth, A. Bayer, K. Mann: Direct Photo-Etching of PMMA Using Focused Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation From a Table-top Laser-Induced Plasma Source, J. Appl. Phys., 101, 124908 (2007)