Graphene-Based Etch Resist for Semiconductor Device Fabrication

As the feature size of semiconductor devices decreases, the resist layer with high etch resistance is required to achieve fine pattern transfer during lithography. Conventional resists (e.g., amorphous carbon layers and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon films) have reached the limit of etch resistance. Here, we proposed graphene as an etch resist in lithographic process for future semiconductor device. First-principles simulation and experimental reactive ion etching (RIE) revealed that the etch resistance of single-layer graphene (SLG) with the sp2 carbon fully connected hexagonal structure is superior to that of conventional carbon resist, with an etch selectivity against SiO2 reaching ∼20. Furthermore, we experimentally confirmed that wafer-scale graphene films, prepared via complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible processes, show etch resistances several times higher than those of conventional resists and allow successful pattern transfer to the underlying substrate. This study demonstrates the potential of graphene as an advanced etch resist for future lithographic technologies.