The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 22, 1998
Filed:
Jan. 26, 1993
Jabez McClelland, Bethesda, MD (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Commerce, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A lithography process which utilizes metastable atoms for resist exposure is disclosed. Metastable rare gas atoms, instead of photons, electrons or ions, are directed at the surface of a lithographic resist. On impact, the metastable atoms release up to 20 eV of energy per atom in the form of secondary electrons. These secondary electrons alter chemical bonds in the resist, causing it to become either soluble or insoluble in an appropriate developer solution. The metastable rare gas atoms can further be manipulated with the new techniques of atom optics to focus them, improve their collimation and intensity, or modulate them.