Immersion Lithography Resist Surface Segregation Agent Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional immersion lithography processes face challenges with high material costs and insufficient repellency for high-speed scanning, leading to pattern defects due to the use of top-coat processes or top-coatless resists with alkali-soluble or insoluble water repellent agents.
Innovation Solution
A developing method for immersion lithography that uses a dissolving and removing solution to selectively dissolve and remove the surface segregation agent from the resist, allowing for high throughput and low defects without additional facilities or processes, using solvents like alcohol, alkyl ether, or fluorine-containing solvents, which can be performed before, during, or after development.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a top-coat process is used to prevent dissolution of low molecular compound in water, then contamination of exposure apparatus is reduced, but process complexity and material cost increase due to redundant application steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the water repellent agent from the bulk resist composition and concentrates it only at the resist surface through surface segregation. This eliminates the need for a separate top-coat layer while maintaining the function of preventing low molecular compound dissolution into water, thus reducing process complexity without sacrificing contamination protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the functions of the resist layer and the protective top-coat layer into a single integrated resist composition. The water repellent agent embedded in the resist provides both the necessary water repellency and the protective function, merging two separate process steps into one and reducing overall process complexity.
2Speed
If alkali-soluble water repellent agent is used to achieve high repellency for high-speed scanning, then scanning speed increases, but pattern defects occur due to insufficient repellency maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by concentrating the water repellent agent specifically at the resist surface through surface segregation, rather than distributing it uniformly throughout the bulk resist. This creates a localized region of high water repellency at the surface that maintains sufficient repellency during high-speed scanning while allowing the bulk resist to maintain its proper chemical properties for pattern formation.
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
This method enables the production of electronic devices with high throughput and low defects, reducing the need for redundant top-coat application steps and minimizing material costs, while maintaining sufficient repellency for high-speed scanning.
Implementation Method 1
a dissolving and removing solution that selectively dissolves and removes the surface segregation agent of the resist
Implementation Method 2
a small amount of polymers (mainly, fluorine-containing polymer) having low critical surface energy, such as water repellent agent, is mixed in the chemically-amplified resist, to have the water repellent agent concentrated (unevenly distributed) only to the resist surface utilizing surface segregation effect
Implementation Method 3
a water film (meniscus) is formed utilizing surface tension of water in a small space between a lens of an exposure apparatus and a wafer
Data Source
AI summary
A developing method for immersion lithography is provided, realizing a process that is simple and low-cost and enables high repellency sufficient to allow high-speed scanning. The developing method for immersion lithography improved by inexpensive material without introducing any new facility, a solution to be used in the developing method, and an electronic device formed by using the developing method are provided. The developing method for immersion lithography is a method of developing for immersion lithography of an electronic device with a resist containing a surface segregation agent and chemically-amplified resist, including the step of development with alkali immersion, characterized by the dissolving and removing step, conducted using a dissolving and removing solution that selectively dissolves and removes the surface segregation agent of the resist.