Chain Scission Resist Compositions for EUV Lithography
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current chemically amplified resists face resolution limitations and line edge roughness issues in extreme ultraviolet lithography, making them unsuitable for sub-7 nm CMOS technology nodes, while chain scission resists are slow and may induce equipment corrosion in high-volume manufacturing.
Innovation Solution
Development of new chain scission resist compositions with improved EUV sensitivity and reduced chemical corrosivity, incorporating specific monomer functional groups such as acrylate-based polymers with EUV-absorbing and stabilizing groups, and branched polymer architectures to enhance scission efficiency and reduce equipment corrosion risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If chemically amplified resists are used in EUV lithography, then sensitivity is improved, but resolution limitations and line edge roughness increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces chemically amplified resist mechanisms with a direct chain scission mechanism driven by EUV radiation. Instead of using photo-acid generators and chemical amplification cascades, the invention uses a direct radiation-induced chain scission process in the polymer resist material, eliminating the chemical amplification step that causes resolution limitations and line edge roughness while maintaining sensitivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the resist material parameters by using specific polymer compositions with controlled molecular weights and incorporating EUV-absorbing groups. This changes the physical and chemical parameters of the resist to optimize both sensitivity and resolution performance for EUV lithography applications.
2Manufacturing precision
If chain scission resists are used in EUV lithography, then chemical variation is reduced, but speed decreases due to lower EUV radiation energy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the polymer parameters by selecting specific molecular weights and incorporating EUV-absorbing functional groups into the polymer structure. This enhances the absorption of EUV radiation energy, increasing the scission rate and exposure speed while maintaining the chemical uniformity and low chemical variation that characterize chain scission resists.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If conventional chain scission resists are used in high-volume manufacturing, then equipment corrosion occurs, but alternative materials are slower
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the resist composition by selecting polymers with specific functional groups that produce less corrosive byproducts during chain scission. This changes the chemical composition parameters to reduce equipment corrosion while maintaining adequate exposure speed through optimized polymer structure and EUV absorption characteristics.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The new chain scission resist compositions achieve improved kinetics and sensitivity, enabling smaller feature pitches without complex error mitigation schemes, and are more efficient and less corrosive, suitable for high-volume EUV lithography applications.
Implementation Method 1
a polymer that will undergo degradation as a result of electron-solid interactions induced through electron-beam exposure
Implementation Method 2
one photo-event initiates a reaction, for example through a photo-acid generator (PAG), which induces a polymer cleavage that in turns generates additional acid
Implementation Method 3
the EUV radiation energy level is lower than that of e-beam lithography
Data Source
AI summary
Chain scission resist compositions suitable for EUV lithography applications may include monomer functional groups that improve the kinetics and/or thermodynamics of the scission mechanism. Chain scission resists may include monomer functional groups that reduce the risk that leaving groups generated through the scission mechanism may chemically corrode processing equipment.