Resistance of Neofton Rubber to X-Ray Lithography Processes

Fluorine-containing elastomers show high stability in aggressive environments of different classes: organic, acidic, and alkaline. Progress in the development of new equipment and technologies poses new challenges, the solution of which can be achieved only after preliminary testing of the polymer under new critical conditions. In the paper, it have been analyzed the behavior of fluorine-containing polymer neofton in an alkaline medium with pH = 8.75 at a temperature of 118 °C during 8 hours, which is sufficient to thin a silicon wafer to produce an X-ray mask membrane for use in X-ray lithography processes. It is shown that the aggressive solution penetrates into the elastomer to a depth of approximately 200 μm. Within the observed depth, polymer degradation is observed with the formation of low-molecular products. Under the action of ethylenediamine diffusing deep into the material, the polymer chain is broken down to form methyl groups. It has also been shown that when a polymer is modified, its Young's modulus decreases.