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Fabrication of Sub‐10 nm Metallic Lines of Low Line‐Width Roughness by Hydrogen Reduction of Patterned Metal–Organic Materials
Author(s) -
Nedelcu Mihaela,
Saifullah Mohammad S. M.,
Hasko David G.,
Jang Arang,
Anderson David,
Huck Wilhelm T. S.,
Jones Geraint A. C.,
Welland Mark E.,
Kang Dae Joon,
Steiner Ullrich
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201000219
Subject(s) - materials science , fabrication , resist , nickel , surface roughness , grain size , surface finish , tungsten , lithography , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , metallurgy , composite material , medicine , alternative medicine , layer (electronics) , pathology
The fabrication of very narrow metal lines by the lift‐off technique, especially below sub‐10 nm, is challenging due to thinner resist requirements in order to achieve the lithographic resolution. At such small length scales, when the grain size becomes comparable with the line‐width, the built‐in stress in the metal film can cause a break to occur at a grain boundary. Moreover, the line‐width roughness (LWR) from the patterned resist can result in deposited metal lines with a very high LWR, leading to an adverse change in device characteristics. Here a new approach that is not based on the lift‐off technique but rather on low temperature hydrogen reduction of electron‐beam patterned metal naphthenates is demonstrated. This not only enables the fabrication of sub‐10 nm metal lines of good integrity, but also of low LWR, below the limit of 3.2 nm discussed in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors . Using this method, sub‐10 nm nickel wires are obtained by reducing patterned nickel naphthenate lines in a hydrogen‐rich atmosphere at 500 °C for 1 h. The LWR (i.e., 3 σ LWR ) of these nickel nanolines was found to be 2.9 nm. The technique is general and is likely to be suitable for fabrication of nanostructures of most commonly used metals (and their alloys), such as iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, tungsten, molybdenum, and so on, from their respective metal–organic compounds.