Nanostructuring of silicon by electron-beam lithography of self-assembled hydroxybiphenyl monolayers

We report the fabrication of silicon nanostructures using aromatic hydroxybiphenyl self-assembled monolayers as ultrathin (1.1 nm) negative tone electron-beam resist. The formation of the monolayer and the electron-induced crosslinking have been characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Nanometer size patterns were defined by electron-beam lithography in the molecular layer and transferred into silicon by wet chemical etching with potassium hydroxide. We demonstrate the fabrication of silicon line gratings with a resolution of ∼20 nm and of isolated silicon lines with linewidths down to ∼10 nm.