Amorphous carbon films as resist masks with high reactive ion etching resistance for nanometer lithography

Abstract

We propose the application of carbon films as resist masks for practical nanometer lithography involving reactive ion etching (RIE). Amorphous carbon films prepared by room‐temperature plasma chemical vapor deposition show a very high resistance against RIE, the etching rates being less than 1/2 of that of a novolak‐based conventional photoresist. The carbon films can be finely patterned by O₂ RIE in a bilayer resist process using a high‐resolution silicone‐based negative resist. Nanometer patterns as small as 40 nm are fabricated on a thick solid substrate, and can be transferred into the substrate layer directly by RIE.