This paper introduces the recent progress in methodologies and their related applications based on the soft x-ray interference lithography beamline in the Shanghai synchrotron radiation facility. Dual-beam, multibeam interference lithography and Talbot lithography have been adopted as basic methods in the beamline. To improve the experimental performance, a precise real-time vibration evaluation system has been established; and the lithography stability has been greatly improved. In order to meet the demands for higher resolution and practical application, novel experimental methods have been developed, such as high-order diffraction interference exposure, high-aspect-ratio and large-area stitching exposure, and parallel direct writing achromatic Talbot lithography. As of now, a 25 nm half-pitch pattern has been obtained; and a cm² exposure area has been achieved in practical samples. The above methods have been applied to extreme ultraviolet photoresist evaluation, photonic crystal and surface plasmonic effect research, and so on.

Owing to its high light output, Gd2O2S:Tb (P43) phosphor powder is widely used in scintillator detectors for scanning transmission soft X-ray microscopy. However, the long decay time (>1 ms) of P43 phosphor powder limits the image scanning speed. Inorganic scintillators such as YAG:Ce are very suitable for fast scanning imaging due to their short decay time (tens of nanoseconds). Nevertheless, its light output is lower than that of P43 phosphor powder. Patterning photonic crystals (PhCs) on the output surface of an inorganic scintillator is a simple and efficient method to enhance its light output. In this study, we use soft X-ray interference lithography technique to produce a large-area pattern of nanoscale PhCs on a 200 lm thickness and 1 inch diameter YAG:Ce scintillator. Measurement of the enhancement ratio was performed on the soft X-ray beamline (BL08U1A) at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The results show that the light output of the PhC-patterned YAG:Ce scintillator with air coupling is approximately 2.8 times higher than that of the unpatterned YAG:Ce scintillator. Meanwhile, the time resolved emission with optical excitation showed that the PhC structures did not affect the spontaneous emission rate in the internal of scintillator crystal. This enhancement of the light output indicates that PhC-patterned YAG:Ce scintillator is a good candidate for soft X-ray detection.

We design and fabricate a substrate based on a three-dimensional array–film hybrid structure used for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). This substrate exhibits improvements both in sensitivity and homogeneity for the Raman signals. As a result, the substrate increases the Raman signal of Rhodamine 6G by 12.3 times under the same measurement conditions, compared with conventional gold array sitting directly on a silica wafer. The sensitivity of SERS can be easily tuned by changing the thickness of SiO₂ separation. Meanwhile, the relative standard deviations are achieved to be less than 10%. This array–film hybrid structure provides a promising approach for future SERS applications.

The EUV light emitted by the synchrotron radiation source exhibits a stable wavelength and pollution-free characteristics, making it highly suitable for technical verification in diverse EUV lithography applications and playing a pivotal role in EUV lithography industry research. To guide the EUV light from the beamline into the experimental platform, this paper proposes a deflection system design based on the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF). This system enables beamline diagnostics for EUV light while facilitating precise positioning and performance testing of the Mo/Si multilayer planar deflection mirror. The deflection system achieves accurate installation and alignment through a coordinate transfer protocol. By imaging the EUV incident light spot on a scintillator and analyzing variations in EUV light intensity data before and after the deflection mirror, the system can accurately measure focused light spot parameters from the beamline and achieve submicron alignment accuracy with 10 μrad angular resolution for the deflection mirror. The proposed design provides valuable insights for advancing EUV lithography technology utilizing synchrotron radiation sources.

Vapor-phase metal–organic photoresists are promising for nanoscale lithography because they combine solvent-minimized processing, conformal ultrathin-film formation, and inorganic-network-enabled pattern stability. However, the molecular origin of their radiation-induced solubility switching remains insufficiently resolved. Here, we report a molecular-layer-deposited titanium–dienediol hybrid photoresist, Ti–DVG, prepared from a titanium precursor and 1,5-hexadiene-3,4-diol. The hydroxyl groups enable sequential molecular layer deposition, while the terminal alkenes introduce unsaturated carbon environments that undergo irradiation-induced transformation within the Ti–organic network. Ti–DVG exhibits nearly linear growth at ca. 0.10 nm cycle-1, smooth continuous morphology, and a negative-tone response after electron-beam exposure and development. Electron-beam lithography produces continuous 25 nm line/space patterns with line-edge roughness values of 2.347–2.959 nm, while low-contrast limiting features down to approximately 5.2 nm are observed under size-specific exposure conditions, including the use of thinner films for the sub-10 nm tests. EUV interference lithography further resolves dense patterns with half-pitches down to 15–18 nm. Complementary FTIR, background-subtracted outgassing, XPS, repeated-scan XPS, and Raman analyses collectively support ligand transformation, volatile-species evolution, oxygen-environment redistribution, and formation of Ti–O-rich local structures. This work establishes a mechanistically traceable design strategy for vapor-phase hybrid photoresists.