High-speed near-field photolithography at 16.85 nm linewidth with linearly polarized illumination

Plasmonic focusing was investigated in concentric rings with a central pillar under linearly polarized illumination with a specific incident angle. When changing the incident angle of linearly polarized beam between 6 and 15 degree away from the normal direction, the focal spot size can keep a steady value of 37 nm, smaller than the focal spot with the radially polarized beam at the same excited condition, 45 nm. Combining this with the highspeed near-field photolithography technology, we demonstrated a plasmonic lithography with 16.85 nm linewidth on both organic and inorganic photo-resists in large scale at scanning speeds up to 11.3 m/s. This inclined linearly polarized illumination is easy to realize in a prototype of near-field photolithography system, and it opens a new cost effective approach towards the next generation lithography for nano-manufacturing. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America