This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop a comprehensive automated nanolithography and alignment system for integrated electronics and photonics manufacturing. Transfer Devices, Inc. is the pioneer, and has significant intellectual property, in transfer lithography. The product driver for this application is the MxL (molecular transfer lithography) template. It is a consumable, one-time-per-use item that forms patterns by bonding patterned resist layers onto a substrate surface, with subsequent water dissolution of the template. MxL is a non-imprint, non-photolithography process that solves the defect propagation problem of contract printing, and is applied for large area, conformal printing at low costs and high throughput. The proposal seeks to optimize the replication of MxL templates, and coordination with an advanced adaptive alignment system, to achieve unprecedented overlay and high resolution patterning for high throughput next generation lithography of integrated circuits and photonic devices. The reason for the success of the proposed solution is a technologically superior solution of that of alternative approaches by combining low-cost, environmentally friendly processing with defect free conformal printing over large areas at high throughput rates. MxL (molecular transfer lithography) is a patent protected unique process using a water dissolvable sacrificial polymer template. This advanced process is coordinated with an adaptive alignment scheme to produce state-of-the-art registration with sub-50 nm features at sub-20 nm placement capability.
Commercially, the proposed process and technological solution will significantly advanced the capability to manufacture nano-technological devices for a wide range of applications including integrated circuits, solar wafers, displays, data storage, MEMS, as well as emerging areas in photonics, high brightness LED's, optoelectronics, life sciences, and nanotechnology. The project will be implemented commercially into the lithography marketplace, which by 2009 has a total market size of roughly $20B including equipment technology, masks, and consumables.
For applications in semiconductors and photonics, this project concerns the development of a novel patented class of patterning processes called molecular transfer lithography, which utilizes a water-soluble high resolution template to manufacture nanostructured and microstructured materials on substrates. As it is the resolution of the structure that defines generally the speed and performance of the device, methods were developed that improved the dimensional capability of the process, demonstrating sub-50nm grating structures with aspect ratios greater than two to one using a low-cost procedure, thereby enabling new types of applications for the technology, for example in the area of optical devices. Moreover, the capability of the molecular transfer lithography process to produce complex structures in addition to high resolution was developed including multi-level structures, shaped three dimensional structures, and periodic arrays. With a focus on implementation in high volume manufacturing, equipment methodologies including alignment were developed to coordinate the molecular transfer lithography processes with instrumentation for repeatable replication, coating, and transfer at high rates of throughput. In addition to nanopatterning tooling, the molecular transfer lithography process and its materials, in particular photoresist, was coordinated with complimentary steps such as deposition and etching equipment and processes to produce a sequence of operations for device fabrication. Commercial implementation of the molecular transfer lithography process comprised of templates, process, and instrumentation was achieved in the area of manufacturing light emitting diodes that are used in consumer electronic applications including general and industrial illumination as well as projection devices. As a fundamental nanopatterning technique, the molecular transfer lithography process should enable the design and manufacture of novel high performance nanoelectronic and photonic products.
