Characterization and performance of advanced i-line photoresists for 0.5-micron CMOS technology

Abstract

An evaluation procedure for advanced I-line photoresists is presented. The evaluation is comprehensive in nature, including manufacturing and quality requirements as well as the usual patterning performance tests. The evaluation is divided into three general categories: Performance, Manufacturability, and Materials. These categories include a total of 23 individual performance tests and 15 evaluation criteria. A scoring method is described which assigns a numerical rating to the resist performance. Weighting constants contained in this procedure can be adjusted to vary the emphasis on particular measures of the photoresist performance.