Molecular resists are excellent candidates for next-generation lithography because of their resolution and line edge roughness properties. Calixarenes and their derivatives have been evaluated by several research groups as resist materials. However, resists based on calixarene derivatives have issue, such as low adhesiveness to substrates and high solubility, in a standard 0.26 N alkaline developer. In this study, a series of calix[4]resorcinarene (CRA) derivatives were synthesized and evaluated as negative-tone chemical amplified resists for EB lithography. Typical resist components include the CRA, a photo acid generator, a cross linker, a quencher and solvent. Dissolution rates of CRA derivatives for an alkaline developer have been optimized. As a result, the best of the resists exhibited a resolution of under 20 nm halfpitch with reasonable sensitivity under 100 kV electron beam exposures. Furthermore, the resists based on CRA derivatives showed improvements in adhesiveness to substrate and sissolution properties.
