Science and Technology of Nanolithography

In state-of-the-art nanolithography a mask containing the layout of a computer chip is imaged, using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light, onto a thin layer of photo-resist on top of a semiconductor wafer from which the computer chips are fabricated. In this summer course we will follow the path that the light in said state-of-the-art nanolithography takes, and also address the challenges of illuminating wafers and precisely monitoring the imprints of nanostructures on the wafers.

We will cover the surprisingly rich physics behind some of the fundamental processes occurring in Nanolithography. These range from the interaction of intense laser light with metals, the generation of plasmas, the generation of EUV light in plasmas, the creation of good mirrors out of badly reflecting materials, (sub-)nm metrology on semiconductor structures and the light sources needed for such metrology.