Optical and Thermal Comparative Study of a Soft X-Ray Lithography Beamline for the Australian Synchrotron

In the last years we witnessed an increasing trend in miniaturization of electronic, mechanical, optical and magnetic components. Currently, the ultimate Critical Dimension (CD) of such components is rapidly approaching the 10 nm length scale, with a growing interest in integrating different components in complex systems. Advanced fabrication techniques are thus required to rapidly pattern substrates on the 10–100 nm length scale, and soft X‐Ray Lithography (XRL) has proven its patterning ability down to 40 nm, with the possibility to be further extended. The construction and commissioning of the Australia Synchrotron, that will be operational in 2007, gives the possibility to build such a facility on a powerful third‐generation synchrotron source. This work is a comparative study of three possible beamlines devoted to XRL, one of which could be installed at the Australian Synchrotron. The optical layout and the thermal load have been studied, under the constraints given by the storage ring, the ultimate patterning ability, the current mask technology and two possible exposure stations, aiming at replicating structures in the sub‐100 nm level. Ray tracing simulations have been performed in order to assess the optical layout and the performances of the beamlines, which in principle can cover a wide lithographic window between 1 and 8 keV incoming photon energy.