Inorganic Resist Lithography for Tight Critical Dimension Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing complexity and difficulty in processing and manufacturing semiconductor devices as feature sizes decrease, making it challenging to form reliable semiconductor devices at smaller scales.
Innovation Solution
An advanced lithography process using a resist layer composed of an inorganic material and an auxiliary, which includes metallic cores and linkers, to enhance radiation sensitivity and cross-linking reactions, along with the use of ketone-based or ester-based solvents for development to achieve improved pattern formation and critical dimension control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If feature sizes continue to decrease, then device density and integration are improved, but processing complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the resist material by incorporating inorganic materials (such as metal oxides, metal organic frameworks, or zeolites) combined with organic polymers. This compositional parameter change enables the resist to maintain adequate radiation sensitivity and pattern fidelity even as feature sizes decrease to 10nm and below, thereby addressing the processing complexity increase that normally accompanies scaling.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite resist materials consisting of inorganic components (metal oxides, MOFs, or zeolites) combined with organic polymer matrices. This composite structure leverages the radiation sensitivity and cross-linking capabilities of inorganic materials while maintaining the processability and pattern-forming characteristics of organic materials, enabling reliable fabrication at reduced feature sizes without proportionally increasing processing complexity.
2Area of moving object
If feature sizes continue to decrease, then device density is improved, but manufacturing reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the chemical and physical parameters of the resist material by integrating inorganic components with specific properties (radiation sensitivity, cross-linking behavior, thermal stability). These parameter changes enable the resist to maintain manufacturing reliability through enhanced radiation response and controlled cross-linking, even as feature sizes decrease to 10nm and below where conventional materials fail to provide adequate process window and pattern fidelity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials combining inorganic substances (metal oxides, MOFs, zeolites) with organic polymers to create a resist system that maintains manufacturing reliability at scaled dimensions. The inorganic components provide radiation sensitivity and cross-linking mechanisms that ensure reliable pattern transfer, while the organic matrix ensures proper film formation and processing behavior, together maintaining reliability despite reduced feature sizes.
3Device complexity
If conventional lithography processes are used, then process simplicity is maintained, but pattern formation quality deteriorates at small dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameters of the resist by incorporating inorganic components (metal oxides, MOFs, or zeolites) that exhibit enhanced radiation sensitivity and controlled cross-linking behavior. This parameter change allows conventional lithography processes to maintain adequate pattern formation quality at small dimensions by improving the resist's response to radiation and its ability to form stable, well-defined patterns during development.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite resist materials combining inorganic components with organic polymers to achieve improved pattern formation quality without fundamentally changing the lithography process. The inorganic materials provide enhanced radiation sensitivity and cross-linking that improve pattern fidelity at small dimensions, while the organic matrix maintains compatibility with existing processing techniques, thereby preserving process simplicity while enhancing manufacturing precision.
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 solution enables improved line width roughness and critical dimension uniformity, reducing the radiation dose required and enhancing the throughput of semiconductor device structure formation without compromising reliability.
Implementation Method 1
the auxiliary reacts with the first linkers to form a compound that has a size greater than a size of each of the metallic core
Data Source
AI summary
A method for forming a semiconductor device structure is provided. The method includes forming a resist layer over a material layer, the resist layer includes an inorganic material. The inorganic material includes a plurality of metallic cores and a plurality of first linkers bonded to the metallic cores. The method includes forming a modified layer over the resist layer, and the modified layer includes an auxiliary. The method includes performing an exposure process on the modified layer and the resist layer, and removing a portion of the modified layer and a first portion of the resist layer by a first developer. The first developer includes a ketone-based solvent having a substituted or unsubstituted C6-C7 cyclic ketone, an ester-based solvent having a formula (b), or a combination thereof.