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Pushing feature size down to 11 nm by hyperbolic metamaterials-based interference photolithography under illumination of UV light source

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Abstract

Limited by the cost and complexity, ultra-high resolution lithography is hardly achieved through the traditional interference lithography. Here we developed the plasmonic interference lithography technique by means of using hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs, SiO2/Al or GaN/Al)/photoresist/metal plasmonic waveguide to push the feature sizes theoretically down to 16 nm and even to 11 nm at the wavelength of 365 nm with TM polarization. The waveguide based on the proposed HMMs can support high-k mode for ultra-high resolution lithography. Furthermore, plasmonic mode supported in the proposed lithography structure can be tailored by dimension of HMMs and permittivity of the materials, which makes it possible to obtain high resolution pattern under illumination of conventional UV light. Our findings will open up avenues for the improvement in nanolithography node toward 10 nm for low-cost and large area fabrication under illumination of conventional UV light source.

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Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (U1604133, 12074102 and 11804082), Foundation of Henan Educational Committee (No. 20A140013). We are so grateful for Prof. Y.Q. Fu’s help of giving a written polishing to our paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics and Electronic Information Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454003, China

    Xuefeng Yang, Shuxia Zhang, Baoji Wang, Xiaolin Cai, Xiaohua Li, Weiyang Yu & Qin Wang

  2. School of Safety Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454003, China

    Zhongliang Lu

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  1. Xuefeng Yang
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  2. Shuxia Zhang
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  3. Baoji Wang
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Correspondence to Xuefeng Yang.

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Yang, X., Zhang, S., Wang, B. et al. Pushing feature size down to 11 nm by hyperbolic metamaterials-based interference photolithography under illumination of UV light source. Appl. Phys. A 129, 87 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-023-06385-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-023-06385-8

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