Carbon nanotube membranes for EUV photolithography: a versatile material platform

Next generation of high-NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography introduces higher power levels and faster reticle accelerations, enabling breakthrough in scanner efficiency. This results in higher temperatures and mechanical stresses on the EUV pellicles. Here we demonstrate scalable carbon nanotube (CNT) membrane mass production from a floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (FC-CVD) reactor, using a direct dry deposition method. This direct high volume fabrication method yields highly uniform CNT networks with high strength and purity, enabling exceedingly thin CNT pellicles with high transparency at EUV. This end-to-end manufacturing process, starting from reagent gases, enables control and reproducibility over the final nanomaterial product. Control over synthesis allows tailoring of the carbon nanotube diameter and wall count (SWCNT or FWCNT), as well as control over the CNT network morphology such as the density, bundle size, and orientation of CNTs. The combination of this direct fabrication method with the exceptional mechanical and thermal properties of CNTs creates a versatile membrane platform, which can be further modified with post process steps such as purification to remove metal impurities. To enable conformal and thin coatings on CNTs, wet and dry functionalization steps are demonstrated to match the surface chemistry of CNTs to the specific deposition chemistry used in atomic layer (ALD), chemical vapor (CVD), or physical vapor (PVD) deposition processes. Thicker and denser CNT membranes with appropriate coatings are also suitable for other roles, such as filtering debris from an EUV source, blocking DUV photons and electrons, and providing a gas seal for differential pressure.