AVS 45th International Symposium
    Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Division Thursday Sessions
       Session NS-ThP

Paper NS-ThP20
Film Formation and the Onset of Multilayer Growth in Chloromethylphenylsilane Films as Determined by Atomic Force Microscopy

Thursday, November 5, 1998, 5:30 pm, Room Hall A

Session: Nanometer-Scale Science and Technology Division Poster Session
Presenter: W.J. Dressick, Naval Research Laboratory
Authors: W.J. Dressick, Naval Research Laboratory
J.M. Calvert, Shipley Co.
M.-S. Chen, Naval Research Laboratory
S.L. Brandow, Naval Research Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
Organosilane films containing benzyl chloride functional groups are of interest for use as imaging layers in high resolution lithography due to the extreme sensitivity of the carbon-chlorine bond to cleavage by either photon or electron radiation. For applications where feature sizes are on the nanometer scale it is important to have an understanding of the surface coverage and intermolecular order of these films. We have developed protocols for the reproducible deposition of two organosilanes, p-chloromethylphenyltrichlorosilane (CMPTS) and 1-(dimethylchlorosilyl)-2-(p,m-chloromethylphenyl)ethane (CMPEMS), on native oxide silicon and fused silica substrates. Film growth was characterized using several techniques including UV absorbance, ellipsometry, and contact angle measurements. Atomic force microscopy was found to be a powerful tool for monitoring the onset of oligomer formation in the CMPTS films, ultimately allowing the macroscopic properties of the films to be correlated with their nanometer scale morphologies. Results indicate that film growth which is limited to direct chemisorption at the surface results in low coverage, disordered films. In the CMPTS system multilayer growth was found to be a predominant pathway even at sub-monolayer coverages. The significance of these observations on the design of imaging layers capable of molecular scale resolution in nanolithographic applications is discussed.