Combination of SiDWEL process and conventional electron sensitive resists in a complementary technique for the fabrication of X-ray masks

In recent years, efforts have been made to demonstrate the extensibility of X-ray lithography as a next-generation lithography technique for integrated circuit production (Canning, 1997; Oda et al, 1999). In order to meet the long term goals of the ITRS roadmap, it is important to demonstrate that X-ray masks can be fabricated at resolutions well below the 100 nm barrier. This paper presents results on the use of conventional electron-sensitive resists and the silicide direct write electron beam lithography process (SiDWEL) for the fabrication of X-ray masks with sub-100 nm resolution.