A Novel Resist Freeze Process for Double Imaging

Abdallah, David J.; Alemy, Eric L.; Chakrapani, Srinivasan; Padmanaban, Murirathna; Dammel, Ralph R.

doi:10.2494/photopolymer.21.655

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Resist freezing (123)(124)(125) requires two coating and two development steps, and the wafer must leave the exposure chuck to undergo a freezing process, which may involve coating the freezing material over the first developed image-with a subsequent bake to freeze the image (cross-linking chemistry) that renders it insoluble in an aqueous base developer. The freezing material is removed, and the second resist coat, exposure, and development steps are performed to obtain the desired double pattern.…”

Section: Figure 17mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each industrial company has its own method to accomplish the freezing or crosslinking step. In one example, photoresists that contain the lactone functionality are modified by vapor-deposited diamines as a cross-linker (123). A final alternative uses a self-aligned double-patterning (SADP) technique, or sidewall spacer technique, to achieve pitch doubling (126)(127)(128)(129).…”

Section: Figure 17mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Immersion Lithography: Photomask and Wafer-Level Materials

French

Tran

2009

Annu. Rev. Mater. Res.

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Optical immersion lithography utilizes liquids with refractive indices >1 (the index of air) below the last lens element to enhance numerical aperture and resolution, enabling sub-40-nm feature patterning. This shift from conventional dry optical lithography introduces numerous challenges requiring innovations in materials at all imaging stack levels. In this article, we highlight the recent materials advances in photomasks, immersion fluids, topcoats, and photoresists. Some of the challenges encountered include the fluids' and photomask materials' UV durability, the high-index liquids' compatibility with topcoats and photoresists, and overall immersion imaging and defectivity performance. In addition, we include a section on novel materials and methods for double-patterning lithography-a technique that may further extend immersion technology by effectively doubling a less dense pattern's line density. 93 Annu. Rev. Mater. Res. 2009.39:93-126. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org by Otterbein University on 09/17/13. For personal use only.

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Section: Figure 17mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figure 17mentioning

confidence: 99%

Immersion Lithography: Photomask and Wafer-Level Materials

French

Tran

2009

Annu. Rev. Mater. Res.

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“…The process is simplified over more common sidewall spacer approaches by replacing the etch-CVD-CMP-etch process with a three-step VLPR-RIE-development process. Potential freeze materials include RELACS 7 and diamines 8 . Figure 2f lists more process schemes which are mixtures of the previously mentioned techniques.…”

Section: Higher Order Pitch Division Lithographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of higher order pitch division for sub-32nm lithography

Xie

Smith

2009

SPIE Proceedings

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The three knobs of optical lithography, namely process factor k 1 , wavelength (λ) and numerical aperture (NA) have been constantly pushed to print smaller features. To get an equivalent k 1 value below the fundamental limit of 0.25, double patterning (DP) has recently emerged as a viable solution for the 32nm lithography node. Various DP techniques exist such as litho-etch-litho-etch (LELE), litho-freeze-litho-freeze (LFLF) and self-aligned sidewall spacer. In this paper, the potential of higher order pitch division (pitch/N, N>2) for sub-32nm lithography is analyzed. Compared to double patterning, higher order pitch division lithography offers higher resolution but also faces significant challenges such as added cost and tighter process control. Several process schemes are proposed and compared in terms of complexity, susceptibility to alignment error and CD uniformity control. It is shown that the overlay budget does not necessarily decrease compared to double patterning. The main challenge in higher order pitch division comes from controlling the key processing steps that directly form lines or spaces. In addition, line CD control is easier than space (gap) control in all four "positive-tone" processes studied, similar to the double patterning case. Among the proposed processes, a freezing assisted double spacer (FADS) process that is simpler than the common sidewall spacer approach shows promise for balanced process control.

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“…Numerous techniques have been explored for the resist stabilization including ion implantation, 8 UV curing, 9,10 thermal hardening, 11 thermal curing, 12,13 or chemical curing. 9,[13][14][15] Regardless of the stabilization method employed, it should fulfill three minimum requirements for the successful double patterning: (1) no pattern deformation during the resist stabilization process, (2) no intermixing between L1 and L2 resist layers during the L2 resist coating/soft bake process, and (3) no aqueous base development of L1 patterns during the L2 exposure/develop process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced patterning solutions based on the "shrink process assisted by double exposure" (SPADE)

Bae¹,

Liu²,

Cardolaccia³

et al. 2010

SPIE Proceedings

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By combining chemical and thermal curing techniques, we developed a simple "hybrid" curing system which offers precise CD control of the first patterns after double patterning. This hybrid curing system involves thermal curing followed by a liquid rinse process using a double patterning primer (DPP). DPP is an aqueous solution formulated with surface curing agent (SCA) components and enhances "positive" interaction between L1 and L2 patterns. Taking advantage of the CD growth with DPP treatment, we further developed three advanced patterning schemes: 1. "Shrink Process Assisted by Double Exposure" (SPADE TM I Process), 2. "Space Patterning Assisted by Double Exposure" (SPADE II), and 3. "Sidewall Patterning Assisted by Double Exposure" (SPADE III). Using SPADE I, contact hole CD was reduced by 10~30nm and excellent through pitch performance was achieved. Using SPADE II, the first example of self-aligned double patterning of contact holes has been demonstrated. After SPADE II, the contact hole pitch was reduced by 30%. A novel method was developed to form sidewalls on the existing patterns using SPADE III. The 2D sidewall patterning with contact holes was demonstrated and ~40nm sidewalls were formed using SPADE III. This can also be applied to form sidewall patterns on line and space patterns to self-aligned double patterning of lines. In this paper, our recent progress with SPADE technology is described and its potential use in the advanced patterning schemes is discussed.Keywords: double patterning primer, self-aligned double patterning, SPADE, shrink process assisted by double exposure (SPADE I), space patterning assisted by double exposure (SPADE II), sidewall patterning assisted by double exposure (SPADE III),

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A Novel Resist Freeze Process for Double Imaging

Cited by 10 publications

References 3 publications

Immersion Lithography: Photomask and Wafer-Level Materials

Immersion Lithography: Photomask and Wafer-Level Materials

Analysis of higher order pitch division for sub-32nm lithography

Advanced patterning solutions based on the "shrink process assisted by double exposure" (SPADE)

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