Achievement

IGERT Fellow Robert Rodriguez has been working with Intel’s Paul Zimmerman to develop high-refractive-index fluids for immersion lithography. Photolithography is used in the fabrication of all microelectronic devices. This technique uses a series of high-quality lenses to project a reduced-scale image of the electronic device onto a silicon wafer coated with photoresist -- a light-sensitive material that acts like photographic film. This process defines the size and shape of the components (e.g., transistors, wires). Today’s photolithography technology can generate features as small as 45 nm; however, next-generation devices require 32 nm structures. To further increase resolution, the lens system can be immersed in a high-refractive-index fluid. Rodriguez has synthesized 2-3 nm metal oxide particles that can be suspended in water. These particles increase water’s refractive index from 1.437 up to 1.6 -- an impressive increase that will (potentially) enable 32 nm resolution.