Exposure of lithographic resists by metastable rare gas atoms

Abstract

A lithography process which utilizes metastable atoms for resist exposure is disclosed. Metastable rare gas atoms, instead of photons, electrons or ions, are directed at the surface of a lithographic resist. On impact, the metastable atoms release up to 20 eV of energy per atom in the form of secondary electrons. These secondary electrons alter chemical bonds in the resist, causing it to become either soluble or insoluble in an appropriate developer solution. The metastable rare gas atoms can further be manipulated with the new techniques of atom optics to focus them, improve their collimation and intensity, or modulate them.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.