Fabrication of sub-100 nm Patterns using Near-field Mask Lithography with Ultra-thin Resist Process

A resist pattern of half-pitch (hp) 50 nm, 120 nm deep was fabricated with near-field lithography (NFL) of i-line ( = 365 nm) using a positive-tone chemically amplified resist and a tri-layer resist process developed for NFL. The experimental results were in close agreement with the numerical results of electro-magnetic analysis using finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method. The possibility of fabricating sub-50 nm patterns was discussed over the numerical results.