Medusa 84 SiH

The HSQ resist is used worldwide in e-beam lithography. However, despite its good properties, its lifetime is very limited. In addition, many customers have complained that it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain HSQ, as production is likely to be discontinued soon. Therefore, a year ago we decided to take action and develop another HSQ analog resist with higher stability. We named it Medusa 84 SiH (SX AR-N 8400), so it belongs to the Medusa group, but differs from the two Medusa 82 variants ¹⁾.

In contrast to Medusa 82, the optical transparency of Medusa 84 SiH is significantly higher, since it is made of purely inorganic components. This transparency is important for a large group of customers who use such resists for optical applications. These can be structures fabricated by electron beam lithography, such as the diffractive optical element (DOE) shown in Figure 1, or unstructured functional layers in optics.

Fig. 1 DOE fabricated with Medusa 82 @ U. Hübner, P. Voigt, Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Jena, Germany

Furthermore, by selecting a special non-polar resist solvent, the shelf life of Medusa 84 SiH was significantly increased. The quality of our samples, which have been in our lab for 8 months, remains unchanged.

Several partners have tested first samples and confirmed the excellent properties of Medusa 84 SiH ¹⁾. As soon as we have more representative results, we will inform you. Small samples of 30 ml will also be available as of November 2023. If you are interested in an evaluation, please contact us.

Fig. 2 Dose scale of the Medusa 84 SiH, dose 950 µC/cm², 30 kV, developer AR 300-44

The first impressive results of our Medusa 84 SiH prompted us to make it the resist of the month October.

• Further information at allresist.de or 48. AR NEWS October 2023