Terminal-Blocked Resist Underlayer Composition for EUV Pattern Fidelity
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Solution Overview
Problem
In semiconductor manufacturing, forming a resist underlayer film for EUV lithography with a line width of 32 nm or less is challenging due to issues like pinholes, agglomeration, and Line Width Roughness (LWR), and improving adhesion and resist sensitivity is difficult, especially with the influence of the semiconductor substrate and polymer used.
Innovation Solution
A resist underlayer film-forming composition containing a polymer with a terminal blocked by a compound and an organic solvent, where the polymer is derived from a specific structure, including a polycyclic aliphatic ring, and optionally includes an acid generator and crosslinking agent, to form a uniform and solvent-resistant film.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a thin resist underlayer film is formed for EUV exposure with line width of 32 nm or less, then the resolution is improved, but pinholes and agglomeration occur due to substrate surface influence
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a resist underlayer film as an intermediary between the semiconductor substrate and the resist film. This underlayer film with specific terminal-blocked polymer structure mediates the interaction between substrate and resist, preventing direct harmful interactions while maintaining the thin film structure needed for high resolution EUV patterning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical parameters of the polymer by blocking terminal groups with specific compounds. This parameter change in the polymer structure improves the film-forming properties and reduces pinholes and agglomeration in thin resist underlayer films, enabling reliable sub-32 nm line width patterning.
2Manufacturing precision
If the resist underlayer film is made thinner to achieve finer patterns, then the pattern resolution is improved, but adhesion improvement becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the chemical parameters of the polymer by introducing terminal-blocked structures with specific functional groups. This parameter change enables the polymer to maintain excellent adhesion properties even in extremely thin film configurations, allowing sub-32 nm pattern formation without compromising bond strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite structure by combining the polymer with terminal-blocking compounds to form a new material system. This composite approach integrates multiple functions (adhesion, thin film stability, pattern fidelity) into a single resist underlayer material, achieving both fine patterns and strong adhesion simultaneously.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional polymers are used to form resist underlayer film, then the process is simple, but Line Width Roughness and pattern collapse occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the molecular parameters of the polymer by blocking terminal groups, which fundamentally improves the film-forming characteristics. This parameter modification suppresses Line Width Roughness and prevents pattern collapse while maintaining a relatively simple manufacturing process, achieving high precision sub-32 nm patterning.
Data Source
AI summary
A composition for forming a resist underlayer film and a method for producing a resist pattern, the method using the composition for forming a resist underlayer film; and a method for producing a semiconductor device. A resist underlayer film-forming composition which contains an organic solvent and a polymer that has an end blocked with a compound (A), wherein: the polymer is derived from compound (B) that is represented by formula (11). (In formula (11), Y1 represents a single bond, an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, an alkylene group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, the alkylene group being optionally substituted by a halogen atom or an aryl group having from 6 to 40 carbon atoms, or a sulfonyl group; each of T1 and T2 represents an alkyl group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms; and each of n1 and n2 independently represents an integer from 0 to 4.)