This book is a unified exposition of the molecular theory that underlies lithographic imaging. It explains with physical-chemical theories the molecular-level interactions involved in lithographic imaging. It also provides the theoretical basis for the main unit operations of the advanced lithographic process, as well as for advanced lithographic imaging mechanisms, including photochemical and radiochemical, imprint, and directed block copolymer self-assembly imaging mechanisms. The book is intended for students and professionals whose knowledge of lithography extends to the chemistry and physics underlying its various forms. A familiarity with chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and quantum mechanics will be helpful, as will be familiarity with elementary concepts in physics such as energy, force, electrostatics, electrodynamics, and optics.

The science and technology of lithography, especially advanced semiconductor lithography, have now reached such an advanced stage of development and promise such numerous applications (as evidenced by the numerous technologies that the field is now enabling--from electronics to photonics, catalysis to medicine, energy transduction and storage to sensing) that there is a need for a single, reasonably complete, unified exposition of the molecular theory that underlies lithographic imaging. This book is intended to fill this need. It attempts to systematically explain with physical-chemical theories the molecular-level interactions that underlie the essential aspects of lithographic imaging phenomena. The effects of such molecular-level interactions become all the more heightened in the regime of single-digit to a few tens of nanometer-patterned feature length scales, a regime that overlaps the radius of gyration of the resist polymers used in the patterning. In addition, the book will provide the theoretical basis for the main unit operations of the advanced lithographic process, as well as for advanced lithographic imaging mechanisms, including photochemical and radiochemical, imprint, and directed self-assembly imaging mechanisms.

The book is intended for students and professionals whose knowledge of lithography extends to the chemistry and physics underlying its various unit operations, and the imaging mechanisms of its various forms. The methods of physical chemistry are used as far as possible; therefore, a certain familiarity with chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and quantum mechanics will be helpful, as will be familiarity with elementary concepts in physics such as energy, force, electrostatics, electrodynamics, and optics. For the rest, the book has also been written to be of service to readers who are not studying the above-named subjects; to this end an effort has been made to be particularly complete with bibliographic references in the text.

I am particularly grateful to Dr. Chris Mack, Editor of the Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS and MOEMS, who read and commented on the entire manuscript and provided numerous suggestions for improvement. I am also grateful to Dr. Manuel Thesen of micro resist technology GmbH, who read parts of the manuscript and provided suggestions for improvement.

I would also express my sincere appreciation to the editorial staff of SPIE Press, especially Dara Burrows and Tim Lamkins, who oversaw the production and publication of the book.