Iodinated polystyrene: An ion‐millable negative resist

Abstract
Iodinated polystyrene (IPS) is obtained by direct iodination of polystyrene and its lithographic characteristics are investigated. The sensitivity of the polymer to electron beams is increased as the result of iodination by a factor of about 10 and reaches 1 μC/cm2. Coated IPS films are very stable and no changes in exposure characteristics are observed even after pre‐baking at 220°C for 10 min. It is found that crosslinking does not proceed in a vacuum after electron beam exposure. The milling rate of IPS under Ar+ bombardment is measured to be 0.25 nm/s. This is lower than that of poly(glycidyl methacrylate‐co‐ethyl acrylate) (0.67 nm/s) and that of permalloy (0.42 nm/s), both obtained under the same conditions. The mechanism of sensitization by iodination is discussed.