Nanoscale roughness in ultra-thick resists by laser-scanning grayscale direct-write lithography and surface smoothing

Typ
01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
Herausgeber:innen
Herausgeber:in (Körperschaft)
Betreuer:in
Übergeordnetes Werk
Polymers
Themenheft
DOI der Originalpublikation
Link
Zugehörige Forschungsdaten
Reihe / Serie
Reihennummer
Jahrgang / Band
18
Ausgabe / Nummer
17
Seiten / Dauer
2148
Patentnummer
Verlag / Herausgebende Institution
MDPI
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Auflage
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Abtretungsempfänger:in
Praxispartner:in/Auftraggeber:in
Zusammenfassung
Surface roughness at the nanometer scale limits the optical performance of reflective components for X-ray and extreme ultraviolet beam shaping. While sub-nanometer roughness can be achieved by polishing planar substrates, it remains challenging for continuous three-dimensional topographies fabricated by grayscale direct-write lithography in polymer resists. In this work, mm-long linear grayscale slopes are introduced as a calibration platform to distinguish between form, waviness, and roughness contributions. Process optimization reduces artifacts such as gray-value discretization and stitching, while replication into PMMA combined with the TASTE process enables a reduction of intrinsic roughness below 2 nm. Laser scanning confocal and atomic force microscopy are used as complementary techniques to assess surface quality across spatial scales. The results provide insight into the origin of roughness in novolak-based resists and its evolution through the fabrication chain, highlighting material limitations and paths toward smooth polymer optics with sub-nanometer roughness.
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Projekt
Veranstaltung
Startdatum der Ausstellung
Enddatum der Ausstellung
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Enddatum der Konferenz
Datum der letzten Prüfung
ISBN
ISSN
2073-4360
Sprache
Englisch
Während FHNW Zugehörigkeit erstellt
Ja
Zukunftsfelder FHNW
Publikationsstatus
Veröffentlicht
Begutachtung
peer-reviewed
Open Access-Status
Gold
Lizenz
'https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/'
Zitation
Malvicini, G., Güçtemur, D., Saxer, S., Erjawetz, J., & Schift, H. (2026). Nanoscale roughness in ultra-thick resists by laser-scanning grayscale direct-write lithography and surface smoothing. Polymers, 18(17), 2148. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18172148