Halide Dry Development of Metal EUV Resists for CD Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current photolithography processes face challenges in achieving small feature sizes with traditional organic chemically amplified resists in EUV lithography due to low absorption coefficients and pattern collapse issues, requiring improved EUV photoresist materials with increased absorbance and etch resistance.
Innovation Solution
Development of photopatterned metal-containing EUV resists using halide chemistries for dry development processes, including hydrogen halides and remote plasma, to form a resist mask by selectively removing EUV-unexposed portions, with tunable etch selectivity and reduced line collapse.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional organic chemically amplified resists are used in EUV lithography, then the process is compatible with existing 193 nm UV lithography workflows, but the resist exhibits low absorption coefficients and pattern collapse issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs metal-containing compounds (such as organometallic precursors) combined with organic matrix materials to create composite resist systems. These composite materials provide both high EUV absorption through metal atoms and structural integrity to prevent pattern collapse, resolving the contradiction between using traditional organic resists and achieving manufacturing precision in EUV lithography.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the resist by incorporating metal-containing compounds with specific atomic numbers and absorption cross-sections. This parameter change increases EUV absorption coefficient while maintaining resist integrity, thereby improving manufacturing precision without sacrificing adaptability to EUV processes.
2Loss of energy
If the resist thickness is increased to improve EUV absorption, then the absorption coefficient increases, but the aspect ratio increases leading to pattern collapse
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses metal-containing compounds dispersed in an organic matrix to create a composite resist structure. The metal atoms provide high EUV absorption per unit thickness, allowing thinner resist films to achieve sufficient absorption. This maintains structural integrity and prevents pattern collapse while improving energy absorption efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces metal-containing compounds at specific concentrations and distributions within the resist matrix to locally enhance absorption properties. This localized quality enhancement allows optimized absorption without uniformly increasing thickness, thereby maintaining resist strength and preventing pattern collapse.
3Productivity
If conventional wet development is used, then the development process is simple and fast, but scum formation and poor critical dimension control occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional wet chemical development with plasma-based development processes. Plasma development uses reactive species and ion bombardment to selectively remove exposed or unexposed resist, providing superior critical dimension control and scum removal compared to wet development, while maintaining reasonable processing speeds through optimized plasma parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the development mechanism from liquid-chemical interaction to plasma-phase interaction, altering parameters such as reactive species concentration, ion energy, and plasma chemistry. This parameter change enables precise control over development rates and selectivity, improving manufacturing precision while maintaining productivity through optimized plasma process conditions.
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
Enhances EUV lithography by improving etch resistance and absorption, reducing line collapse, and increasing throughput through dry development techniques, providing better critical dimension control and scum removal.
Implementation Method 1
developing the photopatterned metal-containing resist by selectively removing a portion of the resist by exposure to a development chemistry comprising a halide to form a resist mask
Implementation Method 2
including hydrogen halides and remote plasma
Data Source
AI summary
Development of resists are useful, for example, to form a patterning mask in the context of high-resolution patterning. Development can be accomplished using a halide-containing chemistry such as a hydrogen halide. A metal-containing resist film may be deposited on a semiconductor substrate using a dry or wet deposition technique. The resist film may be an EUV-sensitive organo-metal oxide or organo-metal-containing thin film resist. After exposure, the photopatterned metal-containing resist is developed using wet or dry development.