Optically transparent and electrically conductive coatings and method for their deposition on a substrate

1. A substrate for a photolithographic mask comprising a coating deposited on a rear surface of the substrate, the coating comprising:

a. at least one electrically conducting layer, wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises at least one first layer comprising at least one first layer comprising at least one metal and at least one second layer comprising at least one metal nitride, and wherein the at least one metal of the at least one first layer comprises nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr) or titanium (Ti);

b. wherein a thickness of the at least one electrically conducting layer is smaller than 30 nm;

c. wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises an optical transmittance of more than 20% in the wavelength range of 300 nm to 1100 nm; and

d. wherein the at least one second layer protects the at least one first layer.

2. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises an optical transmittance of more than 40%.

3. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises a sheet resistance of smaller than 200 Ω/sq.

4. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises at least one metal and/or wherein the at least one metal comprises aluminum (Al), gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), wolfram (W), indium (In), platinum (Pt), molybdenum (Mo), rhodium (Rh) and/or zinc (Zn) or mixtures of at least two of these metals.

5. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises graphene and/or a multilayer structure of graphite.

6. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises at least one first layer and at least one second layer, wherein the at least one first layer comprises at least one first metal and the at least one second layer comprises at least one second metal and/or graphene.

7. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises at least one first layer comprising at least one metal and at least one second layer comprising at least one metal oxide and/or at least one metal nitride.

8. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises at least one first layer comprising at least one graphene single layer or graphene multilayer structure and at least one second layer comprising at least one metal oxide and/or at least one metal nitride.

9. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a material having a low thermal expansion coefficient, and/or wherein the substrate comprises fused silica.

10. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises an area of 148 mm×148 mm, and/or wherein the thickness of the at least one layer varies less than ±5% across the area of the at least one layer.

11. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein a composite Young's modulus of the at least one electrically conducting layer deposited on the substrate and the substrate comprises a range of 20 GPa-70 GPa.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of forming a metal oxide from a metal in the at least one electrically conducting layer using a thermal treatment of the at least one electrically conducting layer in an ambient atmosphere and/or using a thermal treatment in an oxygen plasma atmosphere.

13. The substrate of claim 1 in which the at least one electrically conducting layer has an optical transmittance of more than 60% and a sheet resistance of smaller than 200 Ω/sq.

14. The substrate of claim 1 in which the at least one electrically conducting layer has an optical transmittance of more than 60% and the at least one layer comprises at least one of nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), aluminum (Al), gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), titanium (Ti), wolfram (W), indium (In), platinum (Pt), molybdenum (Mo), rhodium (Rh), or zinc (Zn), or a mixture of at least two of these metals.

15. The substrate of claim 1 in which the at least one electrically conducting layer has an optical transmittance of more than 60% and the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises graphene and/or a multilayer structure of graphite.

16. The substrate of claim 1 in which the at least one electrically conducting layer has an optical transmittance of more than 60% and the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises at least one first layer and at least one second layer, wherein the at least one first layer comprises at least one first metal and the at least one second layer comprises at least one second metal and/or graphene.

17. The substrate of claim 1 in which the at least one electrically conducting layer has an optical transmittance of more than 60% and the at least one layer comprises at least one first layer comprising at least one metal and at least one second layer comprising at least one metal oxide and/or at least one metal nitride.

18. The substrate of claim 1 in which the thickness of the at least one electrically conducting layer is smaller than 20 nm.

19. The substrate of claim 1 in which the thickness of the at least one electrically conducting layer is smaller than 10 nm.

20. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises an optical transmittance of more than 60%.

21. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises a sheet resistance of smaller than 100 Ω/sq.

22. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises a sheet resistance of smaller than 50 Ω/sq.

23. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the at least one layer varies less than ±2% across the area of the at least one layer.

24. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein a composite Young's modulus of the at least one electrically conducting layer deposited on the substrate and the substrate comprises a range of 30 GPa-60 GPa.

25. The substrate of claim 1 , wherein a composite Young's modulus of the at least one electrically conducting layer deposited on the substrate and the substrate comprises a range of 40 GPa-50 GPa.

26. A method for depositing a coating on a substrate of a photolithographic mask, the method comprising:

a. depositing at least one electrically conducting layer on the substrate, wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises at least one first layer comprising at least one metal and at least one second layer comprising at least one metal nitride, and wherein the at least one metal of the at least one first layer comprises nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr) or titanium (Ti);

b. wherein a thickness of the at least one electrically conducting layer is smaller than 30 nm;

c. wherein the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises an optical transmittance of more than 20% in the wavelength range of 300 nm to 1100 nm; and

d. wherein the at least one second layer protects the at least one first layer.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein depositing the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises a physical vapor deposition method and/or wherein the physical vapor deposition method comprises a sputter deposition method.

28. The method of claim 26 , wherein depositing the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises a thermal evaporation of a material of the at least one electrically conducting layer, and/or wherein depositing the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises an evaporation of the material of the at least one electrically conducting layer by an electron beam.

29. The method of claim 26 , wherein the thickness of the at least one electrically conducting layer is smaller than 20 nm.

30. The method of claim 26 , wherein the thickness of the at least one electrically conducting layer is smaller than 10 nm.

31. A substrate for a photolithographic mask comprising a coating deposited on a rear surface of the substrate, the coating comprising:

at least one electrically conducting layer;

wherein a thickness of the at least one electrically conducting layer is smaller than 30 nm, and the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises at least one of graphene or a multilayer structure of graphite.

32. A substrate for a photolithographic mask comprising a coating deposited on a rear surface of the substrate, the coating comprising:

at least one electrically conducting layer;

wherein a thickness of the at least one electrically conducting layer is smaller than 30 nm, and the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises at least one first layer comprising at least one graphene single layer or graphene multilayer structure and at least one second layer comprising at least one of metal oxide or metal nitride.

33. A substrate for a photolithographic mask comprising a coating deposited on a rear surface of the substrate, the coating comprising:

at least one electrically conducting layer;

wherein a thickness of the at least one electrically conducting layer is smaller than 30 nm, the at least one electrically conducting layer has an optical transmittance of more than 60%, and the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises at least one of graphene or a multilayer structure of graphite.

34. A substrate for a photolithographic mask comprising a coating deposited on a rear surface of the substrate, the coating comprising:

at least one electrically conducting layer;

wherein a thickness of the at least one electrically conducting layer is smaller than 30 nm, the at least one electrically conducting layer has an optical transmittance of more than 60%, and the at least one electrically conducting layer comprises at least one first layer and at least one second layer, and

wherein the at least one first layer comprises at least one first metal and the at least one second layer comprises at least one of a second metal or graphene.