Stacked Post-Exposure Bake and Development Chamber
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current post-exposure bake and development processes in photolithography face challenges in improving lithography exposure and development resolution, particularly in efficiently processing substrates with complex integrated circuits.
Innovation Solution
A platform apparatus with a process module featuring stacked process and post-process chambers, utilizing a shared or dedicated plumbing module, and a robot with movable end effectors for efficient substrate handling and processing, including immersion field-guided post-exposure bake (iFGPEB) and cool-down/development operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If substrates are transferred between separate process chambers for post-exposure bake and development, then processing flexibility is maintained, but substrate transfer time increases and throughput decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the post-exposure bake chamber and development chamber into a single integrated processing chamber. This allows both thermal processing and chemical development to occur sequentially without requiring substrate transfer between separate chambers, thereby eliminating transfer time and improving throughput while maintaining processing flexibility through software-controlled sequence management.
2Manufacturing precision
If electrode assemblies are added to generate electric fields for modifying photoresist properties, then lithography resolution is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode assembly is integrated into the existing process chamber structure, allowing the same chamber to perform both thermal processing (via heating elements) and electric field generation (via electrodes). This multi-functional design improves lithography resolution through photoresist modification while avoiding the need for separate dedicated equipment, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
3Reliability
If multiple process stations with dedicated plumbing modules are used, then processing reliability is improved, but apparatus complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a single integrated process chamber that performs multiple functions (post-exposure bake, development, and electric field processing) using shared plumbing and support infrastructure. This reduces apparatus complexity compared to multiple dedicated stations while maintaining reliability through careful process sequencing and environmental control within the unified chamber.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent addresses the reliability-complexity tradeoff by transitioning from a horizontal arrangement of multiple separate chambers to a vertical integration approach, where multiple processing functions are stacked within a single chamber volume. This dimensional reorganization reduces the footprint and inter-chamber connectivity complexity while maintaining the functional reliability of each processing step.
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 processing efficiency and throughput by minimizing substrate transfer time and optimizing electric field uniformity, leading to improved patterning and resist de-protection characteristics during lithography.
Implementation Method 1
Exposure to light may decompose the photo acid generator, which generates acid and results in a latent acid image in the resist resin
Implementation Method 2
After exposure, the substrate may be heated in a post-exposure bake process. During the post-exposure bake process, the acid generated by the photoacid generator reacts with the resist resin, changing the solubility of the resist
Implementation Method 3
an electrode assembly is utilized to generate an electric field to a photoresist layer disposed on the substrate prior to or after an exposure process so as to modify chemical properties of a portion of the photoresist layer
Data Source
AI summary
Implementations described herein relate to a platform apparatus for post exposure processing. In one implementation, a platform apparatus includes a plumbing module and a process module. The process module further includes a central region having a robot disposed therein, and a plurality of process stations disposed about the central region and sharing the plumbing module. Each process station includes a process chamber and a post process chamber in a stacked arrangement. The process chamber includes a chamber body defining a process volume, a door coupled to the chamber body, a first electrode coupled to the door, and a power source communicatively coupled to the first electrode.