Applications of molecular modeling in nanolithography

The design of resist materials capable of resolution below 100 nm requires a fundamental understanding of the chemical and physical processes that occur at length scales comparable to the dimensions of individual molecules. At these length scales, the thermophysical properties of photoresist films are different from those of the bulk; molecular simulations provide a useful tool to study the behavior of these materials at the molecular level, thereby providing much needed insights into phenomena that are difficult to characterize experimentally. In our group we have developed and implemented molecular based simulations to study materials for nanolithography at various levels of detail. At the chemically detailed, atomistic level, molecular dynamics techniques are used to determine specific effects arising from the molecular architecture of the resist components. In these systems, we explore the intra- and intermolecular structure of the resist resin polymer. The chemical architecture of the resin influence...