| This dissertation discusses the design, synthesis, and evaluation of organic materials for 157 nm photoresists and novel antiferroelectric liquid crystals.; Advances in microelectronic devices have relied heavily on improved photolithographic imaging capabilities. Being able to print smaller devices allows the semiconductor industry not only to lower the cost of devices but also to increase their complexity. The resolution limit of optical lithography can be improved either by lowering the wavelength of exposure light or by increasing the numerical aperture (NA) of the projection lens. Lately, exposure wavelengths have dropped from 193 to 157 nm. Designing functional 157 nm resists is very challenging because air, water, and most organic materials are opaque in this VUV region. We have taken a modular approach in designing 157 nm resist candidates. Fluorocarbon polymers and silicon-containing materials, siloxanes and silsesquioxanes, constitute the main focus of our work, due to their excellent transparency at 157 nm. Rational designs and syntheses of functional fluorine-containing monomers, which have proven to be relatively transparent at 157 nm, are presented, as well as polymer syntheses and imaging evaluations. In preliminary imaging studies, these designed fluorocarbonpolymers demonstrated impressive lithographic performance. Development of siloxane polymers with increased glass transition temperatures (Tg) and preliminary contact printing images are discussed.; Ferroelectric and antiferroelectric liquid crystals have very attractive properties for flat panel liquid crystal displays (LCDs)—high switching speed, high contrast, wide viewing angle, and gray scale capability. AFLCs have attracted much attention due to their additional advantages over FLCs. These include self-recovery from alignment damage due to mechanical and thermal shock, a characteristic with considerable value in display device applications. Rational design and synthesis of two novel mesodimeric antiferroelectric liquid crystals, one with trifluoromethyl groups and the other with methyl groups, are presented. Also addressed is the possible use of using an external electric field to control the conformations of a laterally linked dimer and the resulting optical effects. |
