This paper addresses some options and techniques in the thermal management of masks used in deep x-ray lithography. The x-ray masks are thin plates made of low-atomic-number materials on which a patterned thin film of a high-atomic- number metal has been deposited. When they are exposed to an x-ray beam, part of the radiation is transmitted to replicate the pattern on a downstream photoresist, and the remainder is absorbed in the mask in the form of heat. This heat load can cause deformation of the mask and thus image distortion in the lithography process. The mask geometry considered in the present study is 100 mm X 100 mm in area, and about 0.1 to 2 mm thick. The incident radiation is a bending magnet x-ray beam having a footprint of 60 mm X 4 mm at the mask. The mask is scanned vertically about +/- 30 mm so that a 60 mm X 60 mm area is exposed. The maximum absorbed heat load in the mask is 80 W, which is significantly greater than a few watts encountered in previous systems. In this paper, cooling techniques, substrate material selection, transient and steady state thermal and structural behavior, and other thermo-mechanical aspects of mask design are discussed. It is shown that, while diamond and graphite remain attractive candidates, at present beryllium is a more suitable material for this purpose and, when properly cooled, can provide the necessary dimensional tolerance.
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