As decreasingly smaller molecular materials and material structures are devised or developed for technological applications, the demands on the processes of lithography have been such that feature sizes routinely generated in 2017 are of the order of 10 nm. In reaching such a fine level of resolution, the methods of lithography have increased markedly in sophistication and brought into play terminology that is unfamiliar on the one hand to scientists tasked with development of new lithographic materials or on the other to engineers who design and operate the complex equipment that is required in modern-day processing. Publications produced by scientists need to be understood by the engineers and vice versa, and commonly arise from collaborative research which draws heavily on the terminology of two or more of the traditional disciplines. It is developments in polymer science and material science that lead progress in areas that cross traditional boundaries such as microlithography.
This document provides a ready reference to the exact definitions of a comprehensive selection of unfamiliar terms that researchers and practitioners from the different disciplines might encounter.
Keywords: microlithography, nanotechnology, polymers, terminology
Public review ended 31 May 2020
IUPAC Recommendations published in PAC, AOP 22 Oct 2020