Ultrafast Deep UV Lithography with Excimer Lasers

The use of high-power pulsed excimer lasers for photolithography is described for the first time. Short exposure times, high resolution and absence of speckle are experimentally demonstrated. Using a XeC1 laser at 308 nm and a KrF laser at 248 nm, excellent quality images are obtained by contact printing in two positive photoresists. Resolution down to 1000 line-pairs/mm is demonstrated. These images are comparable to state-of-the-art lithography done with conventional lamps; the major difference is that the excimer laser technique is ∼2 orders of magnitude faster. Preliminary results on reciprocity behavior in several resists are also presented. Copyright © 1982 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.