Resist Material With Cyclic Carbonate Crosslinker
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional crosslinking agent-containing resist materials face issues with incomplete crosslinking reactions during baking, leading to unreacted crosslinking agent components that adversely affect lithography performance. Additionally, these materials struggle with edge roughness, size variation, and resolution in pattern formation.
Innovation Solution
A resist material comprising a base polymer with specific repeating units, a crosslinking agent with a particular structure, a thermal acid generator, a photodecomposable quencher, and an organic solvent. This composition promotes efficient crosslinking and acid generation, enhancing molecular weight changes between exposed and unexposed regions for improved dissolution contrast.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a crosslinking agent is added to enhance molecular weight and improve heat resistance, then heat resistance is improved, but the crosslinking reaction does not progress sufficiently during baking, leaving unreacted components that adversely affect lithography performance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical structure parameters of the crosslinking agent by introducing a cyclic carbonate group, which fundamentally alters the reaction characteristics. This structural modification enables the crosslinking reaction to proceed more completely during the baking process, converting unreacted components into crosslinked structures and thereby improving lithography performance while maintaining heat resistance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite resist system combining a specific base polymer with a cyclic carbonate-containing crosslinking agent. This composite material approach allows the crosslinking agent to function both as a molecular weight builder for heat resistance and as a complete reactant for lithography performance, resolving the contradiction between these two requirements
2Stability of the object's composition
If the molecular weight of the base polymer is increased to raise the glass transition point and suppress substance diffusion during baking, then diffusion suppression is improved, but the dissolution unit size increases causing degraded roughness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the molecular weight-building function from the base polymer and transfers it to the crosslinking agent. By using a small-molecule crosslinking agent with cyclic carbonate group that forms crosslinked structures during baking, the system achieves high molecular weight equivalent effects without increasing the base polymer's molecular weight, thus avoiding roughness degradation while maintaining diffusion suppression
Solution Approach 2:
The crosslinking agent acts as an intermediary that mediates between the base polymer and the final crosslinked network. It provides the necessary molecular weight increase for thermal stability during baking, then transforms into a crosslinked structure that maintains fine dissolution units, effectively bridging the conflict between diffusion suppression and roughness control
3Manufacturing precision
If a crosslinking reaction is promoted in the prebaking process to increase molecular weight, then dissolution contrast is enhanced, but unreacted crosslinking agent components remain and adversely affect lithography performance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the reactivity parameters of the crosslinking agent by incorporating a cyclic carbonate group, which increases the reaction rate and completeness during prebaking. This parameter change allows the crosslinking reaction to proceed more fully at prebaking temperatures, converting unreacted components into crosslinked structures and thereby improving both dissolution contrast and lithography performance simultaneously
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 resist material achieves reduced edge roughness, size variation, and improved resolution, along with excellent heat resistance, making it suitable for manufacturing high-resolution patterns in semiconductor circuits and other applications.
Implementation Method 1
a thermal acid generator
Implementation Method 2
a photodecomposable quencher
Implementation Method 3
a crosslinking agent having a structure represented by the following formula (1)
Implementation Method 4
a repeating unit (B) having an acid-decomposable group
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is a resist material containing: a base polymer (P) containing a repeating unit (A) containing a reactive group and represented by the following formula (a1) or (a2), and a repeating unit (B) having an acid-decomposable group; a crosslinking agent having a structure represented by the following formula (1); a thermal acid generator; a photodecomposable quencher represented by the following formula (2); and an organic solvent. This can provide: a resist material having little edge roughness, little size variation, excellent resolution, and excellent heat resistance; and a patterning process.