W

WE NEED TO DEVELOP A NANOlithography-based mastering process that can be transferred to commercial mass production. By the way, it must be low cost so we shall use a visible light instead of an electron beam (e-beam) or extreme ultraviolet (EUV) as an exposure light source, and hence we might need to circumvent some laws of physics along the way. This was the challenge posed almost six years ago by Jau-Jiu Ju to his team working at the Electronics and Optoelectronics Laboratories (EOL) in Hsinchu, Taiwan. The EOL is a research center within the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). Lithography was originally a printing method to transfer a master pattern to another surface. The master pattern, usually a metal or dielectric mask, is transferred to a substrate by using a photoresist. Illuminating the photoresist drives a chemical crosslinking reaction and, depending on the type of photoresist, is washed away in a developer step, leaving a negative or positive image of the original master pattern. Advances in photolithography techniques have been a fundamental driver to supplying high-technology markets such as laptop computers and smart cell phones with customized, rapidly mass-produced semiconductor microchips, each with millions of finely patterned integrated circuits (ICs) onboard. However, as ICs feature sizes shrank to the nanometer scale, new techniques had to be developed to overcome the diffraction limit of visible light sources.

STOCKBYTE

Illuminating new markets.

JOHN MAI, RUNG-YWAN TSAI, AND CHIN-TIEN YANG
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MNANO.2011.941953 Date of publication: 24 August 2011

1932-4510/11/$26.002011IEEE

SEPTEMBER 2011 | IEEE NANOTECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE |

25

Unipixel is the first company to attempt producing over millions of square meters of protective film per day.

The EOL already had considerable experience in developing organic and inorganic dyes and optical pickup heads (OPHs) for DVD-based consumer electronics. These unique dyes led to the development of innovative dry, inorganic photoresists that would allow these researchers to exceed the diffraction limit of their light source. Furthermore, three years ago, they began collaborating with National Formosa University in Taiwan that supplied another critical piece of the puzzle, namely, nanopositioning systems that could be integrated with the OPHs to realize a compact, nanopatterning exposure system. The result is a miniaturized, OPH-like, precision exposure system based on a blue laser (405-nm wavelength) that is capable of patterning a proprietary dry photoresist with features less than 180 nm in width.

MARKET DRIVERS AND APPLICATION AREAS

Besides the original objective of developing an alternative method for mass production of Blu-ray Disc read only memory (BD-ROM) master disks, three

orthogonal application areas for this low-cost nanolithography platform are currently actively being investigated (Figure 1). They include improving the efficiencies of solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and touch panels for portable consumer electronics. A lowcost nanolithography platform is a game changer in that it extends these devices along their respective technology development roadmaps, at times exceeding their projected target performance parameters and efficiencies a few years ahead of schedule. This nanolithography platform was also envisioned as a basis for a new profitable industry to supply nanopatterned surfaces to these growth industries. The optical reflectance of a silicon solar cell can be greatly reduced by using a specially designed nanopatterned surface structure. It was reported that honeycomb or so-called moth eye nanotextured structures were able to enhance absolute conversion efficiency by 12% for a silicon solar cell, says Dr. Howard Lu from the Photovoltaic Technology Division within the Green Energy and Environment Research

Laboratories of the ITRI (Figure 2). These types of textured surfaces, as already independently demonstrated by the Sony and Sanyo Corporations, effectively act as nanolenses to enhance light transmission toward the semiconductor pn junction while simultaneously reducing losses due to reflected light at angles away from the surface. These are significant improvements considering that the highest reported efficiencies of crystal silicon-based solar cells are still less than 28% under research conditions, while most thin-film-based solar cells have efficiencies less than 21%, according to a survey by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. With the switch to LED-based backlights for computer monitors and flat panel televisions, any technology platform that improves the power consumption efficiency of LEDs, while increasing overall brightness is a musthave solution for companies to remain competitive internationally, says J.R. Deng, the CEO of Tyntek (Taiwan), a supplier of LEDs and other IIIV compound semiconductor devices. Furthermore, Deng adds that, The luminance efficiency of a white-light GaN LED grown on a nanopatterned sapphire substrate can be greatly enhanced up to 3040% as compared to a flat sapphire substrate. Nanopatterned, sapphiresubstrate surfaces of LEDs have been demonstrated to decrease the dislocation intensity of the epitaxial layer and to affect the critical angle for light emission, which improve both the internal and external efficiencies of an LED.

(a)

(b)

180 nm

NDHU

SEI 15.0 kV 30,000 WD 10.1 mm 100 nm

FIGURE 1 Far-field optics using a 405-nm blue laser to generate (a) a BD-ROM master disk with (b) 180 nm spots.

FIGURE 2 The ITRI nanolithography technique was used to create this antireflection texture for solar cell applications.

26 |

IEEE NANOTECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2011

Driven by glossy smart phone and tablet designs from companies such as Apple, HTC, and Samsung, antireflective and antismudge transparent protective coatings are another area of application for nanopatterned surfaces. Dr. Robert Petcavich, the chief technology officer (CTO) of Unipixel (United States) that designs and manufactures a variety of microstructured surface treatments for multitouch display products, states that large-scale manufacturing of antireflective and self-cleaning films presents unique challenges. We found that both the microgeometry and surface nanochemistry play a significant role in the films optical and physical performance. Historically, these types of surfaces were manufactured in a semiconductor facility; Unipixel is the first company to attempt producing more than millions of square meters of protective film per day. This production volume is necessary given the projected size of the target markets. DisplaySearch in their 2011 Touch Panel Market Analysis study projects that touch screens for tablet PCs alone will reach 60 million units in 2011, a significant increase from 10 million units in 2010. They further forecast a spectacular growth in this market niche to 260 million units by 2016.

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Recalling from freshman physics, the Rayleigh criterion sets the resolution limit between two point sources and is proportional to the wavelength of the illumination source. In practice, it is difficult to resolve objects less than half the size of the illumination wavelength using far-field optical techniques. Thus, using a 405-nm blue-laser diode, one would expect to only be able to create structures greater than 200 nm in diameter. Today, most nanopatterning is done using e-beam lithography, which can produce line widths on the order of 10 nm or smaller. However, e-beam lithography requires very expensive, bulky equipment, and the writing process can take up to 12 h per wafer-sized master, which makes it unsuitable for mass production. Other alternatives such as deep UV-based and EUV systems are also restricted by optical diffraction limits

and slow throughput on the scale of 20 30 wafers per hour. This low-cost nanolithography technique was enabled by two technical achievements, namely, first, developing this dry photoresist was a breakthrough for ITRI. Previously, this type of dry photoresist was only available from Japan. Second, the miniature, OPH-like, bluelaser module is capable of precision xy translation. Almost all previous low-cost but accurate positioning systems were only capable of rh translation. The EOL technique is based on the success of Sonys phase transition mastering (PTM) technology in replacing the traditional laser beam recorder in the mastering process for BD-ROM disks. Using inorganic photoresists and by controlling laser parameters such as the pulse frequency, duty cycles, and peak power, patterned spot sizes and line widths less than 100 nm have been demonstrated using much larger industrial systems. Furthermore, PTM technology has three major advantages: 1) it can be implemented in air, 2) any arbitrary pattern can be created using third-party pattern generation software, and 3) it is the lowest cost solution for patterning nanometerscale features. As illustrated in Figure 3, the reference process developed by Dr. ChinTien Yang and his colleagues at the ITRI begins by RF sputtering a 70-nm thick layer of inorganic photoresist onto

a silicon or glass substrate. The OPHlike, blue-laser module is used to traverse the surface and exposes the photoresist via a direct-write action. After exposure, the exposed photoresist is removed in a KOH solution to release the desired nanostructure pattern. For use as a master mold for mass production of BD-ROM disks, the nanostructure pattern is then used as a template in an electroforming step that produces a nickel master stamp (Figure 4). The OPH-like, direct-write module contains a 405-nm laser and an objective lens with a numerical aperture of 0.85. The module is able to traverse over an xy range of 300 lm with a dynamic tilt of less than 1 arc-min, resulting in a positioning accuracy of 30 nm [1]. There is also an electrooptical focusingerror-signal feedback mechanism to the servo controller for additional positioning stability. The laser optics of the module generates a 260-nm diameter exposure beam. Exposure of the dry photoresist is via a thermal mechanism at powers greater than 0.3 mW, which allows for the patterning of 180-nm pillars in the resulting nickel master stamper. Furthermore, the electroforming process has an ultralow (less than 2 nm) surface roughness. This system is currently being tested with a dual-wavelength OPH-like module so that it can be used to expose both organic and inorganic photoresists [2] (Figure 5).

Lens Lens

Blue Laser Beam

Photo Lithographic Photo litho. area Area Dry Photoresist Dry Photoresist

Thermal Lithographic Thermal litho. area Area Substrate Substrate

FIGURE 3 Low-cost nanolithography is realized by using far-field optical techniques to generate a precise, narrower thermal profile to locally expose the special dry photoresist. This yields results comparable to near-field mastering techniques where the spot size can be less than half the illumination wavelength.

SEPTEMBER 2011 | IEEE NANOTECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE |

27

Inorganic Resist Substrate 5 405 nm UV Laser, NA = 0.85 Energetic Beam Recording (Exposure) Developing Process Master (on SiO2 Substrate and Si Substrate) (b)

house in the world. The ITRI spun-off its first mask production fabrication facility, the Taiwan Mask Corporation in 1988. Commercial demand for nanotextured products combined with continued government and institutional investments into this associated nanolithography-based production technology could drive another generation of successful spin-offs from the ITRI (Figure 4).

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Electroforming Process

Nickel Stamper Formation Stamper Stamper (Nickel) (c)

(a)

FIGURE 4 The ITRI lithography and nanostructured-patterning fabrication process to make a master BD-ROM stamp.

ITRI BACKGROUND
The EOL is one of the six core group of laboratories within the ITRI. Our strategy is to aggressively pursue disruptive technologies that will enable Taiwan industry to enter emerging markets in nanotechnology, biotechnology, nextgeneration optoelectronics, clean energy, and cloud-based computing, says Dr. Yi-Jen (Ian) Chan, an ITRI vice president and the general director of the EOL. The ITRI is Taiwans largest R&D institution with almost 6,000 employees that focus on applied technology and promoting industrial development. For more than 30 years, the EOL, and its predecessor organization the Electronics Research Service Organization, has played a key role in transforming Taiwan into a global leader in high-technology manufacturing by providing solutions to local companies and their international partners, especially in the IC industry. With its accumulated portfolio of more than 10,000 patents and its innovative culture, the ITRI has produced more than 70 corporate CEOs along with 165

FIGURE 5 Hand-sized prototype OPH-like module with integrated precision positioners and 405-nm blue laser used to expose the inorganic photoresist.

start-ups and spin-off companies. The EOLs domain knowledge in lithography techniques has been built on many generations of semiconductor ICs fabrication experience. In 1979, the ITRI spun-off the first 4-in wafer fabrication facility in Taiwan that is today known as the United Microelectronics Corporation. A joint venture with Philips led to the spin-off of a 6-in wafer fabrication facility, known as the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) in 1987. Today, TSMC is the largest, independent ICs fabrication

John Mai (johnmai@itri.org.tw) received his aerospace engineering degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, with his major in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). He was also a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Medicine, Stanford University. He is currently a special researcher at the EOL/ITRI. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and has published more than 20 academic papers and is a coinventor of five issued U.S. patents. Rung-Ywan Tsai (ry_tsai@itri.org.tw) received his Ph.D. degree and is a research director of the Micro-OptoMechanical-Electronics Division within the EOL/ITRI. His research interests include optoelectronic devices for biomedical imaging and informatics applications. Chin-Tien Yang (chintienyang@ itri.org.tw) is currently a research manager in the Nanotechnology Research Center/ITRI and was formerly a project deputy manager in the EOL. He obtained his doctorate in materials science and engineering from National Taiwan University in 2003. His research interests include nanolithography techniques and apparatus and their applications to nanoelectronic, nanooptoelectronic, and nanophotonics devices.

REFERENCES
[1] C.-T. Yang, C.-Y. Chen, C.-C. Huang, Y.-C. Lee, S.-C. Chen, and C.-T. Cheng, Single wavelength blue-laser optical head-like optomechanical system for turnable thermal mode lithography and stamper fabrication, IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 701705, Mar. 2011. [2] Y.-C. Lee, S. Chao, C.-C. Huang, and C.-T. Yang, Design of a dual-wavelength optical head for submicron-scale nano-scale lithography, IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 696700, Mar. 2011.

28 |

IEEE NANOTECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2011