US Patent 8134684 - Immersion lithography using hafnium-based nanoparticles

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8134684.html


This patent is based on a collaboration between Sematech and Intel and teaches how hafnium dioxide nanoparticles can be used to create fluids to improve the resolution of immersion lithography tools. Claim 1 reads:

1. A composition of matter comprising:

a medium; and

Hafnium dioxide nanoparticles incorporated in the medium, the Hafnium dioxide nanoparticles having a diameter less than or equal to about 15 nanometers;

wherein said composition of matter is an immersion fluid or a resist.