Chemistry | Materials Science internship: EUV pellicle research

Job description

Introduction In Materials and Chemistry Group within ASML Research, we are developing materials for the next generation of EUV pellicles. The function of the pellicle is to prevent particles from landing on the reticle during the lithography process, which is crucial for ensuring the imaging quality and throughput of our systems. At the same time, the pellicle must have a high transmission in the EUV while having good thermal stability and resistance to hydrogen plasma. A candidate material class that meets these requirements and is currently under investigation at ASML research are nanotube-based membranes. Your Assignment: The current challenge is to understand the origin of the mechanical properties of these membranes in their pristine state, and after exposure to relevant stressors such as high temperatures and/or plasma environments. In this project you will: Learn about nanotube-based pellicle materials and their differences; Use a purpose built pellicle exposure tool to apply various stressors to small size pellicle samples; Analyze the effects of these stressors on the mechanical properties by means of bulge testing; Correlate these effects with other material changes to be...