Defect reduction and defect stability in IMEC's 14nm half-pitch chemo-epitaxy DSA flow

Si-containing block copolymer line and space patterns with 19.8 nm periodicity have been fabricated using lithographically defined guiding patterns. All processes were performed using leading edge production level nanofabrication tools on the 300 mm wafer scale. Under the conditions described here, top-down micrographs without dislocation defects can be readily obtained using automated inspection recipes and relatively low magnification. Future work will be directed toward continued resolution improvements, characterizing the throughfilm morphology, and demonstrating pattern transfer.

Section: Alignment Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-χ, Si-Containing Block Copolymers and Process Strategies for Directing Their Self-Assembly

Ellison

Willson²,

Janes

et al. 2017

“…Gel defects in neutral layer is another concern [1,2]. To find appropriate filtration on this material, Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK) and Pall started a collaboration for studying gel reduction in neutral layer materials.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Defectivity is one of the key concerns for DSAL and gel like contaminants in the material contribute largely to it as well as process-induced dislocations [1,2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neutral Layer Material Filtration for Directed Self Assembly Lithography

Umeda

Matsumiya

Yamano

et al. 2016

Besides block copolymer, gel defects in neutral layer is another concern in directed self assembly lithography. To find appropriate filtration, we studied gel reduction in neutral layer materials. The test includes coating defectivity evaluation and gel removal test using various materials of filter membrane and neutral layer materials varied in monomer proportion of the polystyrene-random-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-r-PMMA) copolymer. Practical results using real world fluids and filters are obtained on the basis of collaboration. As a result, for intermediate PS content materials, Nylon 6,6 5 nm filter is found to be appropriate for gel reduction based on both coating defectivity and gel removal testing results. For relatively high PS content material, both Nylon 6,6 5 nm and HDPE 2 nm are recommended also based on the results. The mechanism of the gel removal is schemed based on hydrophilic interaction between Nylon 6,6 and hydrophilic part of the polymer.

“…Many applications such as hole shrink [1][2][3][4][5] and line/space (L/S) patterning for FinFET device [6] have been reported in recent years. In the L/S applications, some prospective process flows such as the lift-off process [7], the LiNe process [8], the SMART TM process [9], and the coordinated line epitaxy (COOL) process [10][11][12][13][14] have been demonstrated in full-wafer experiments. These demonstrations manifested that defects constituted one of the most important obstacles concerning practical applications of the DSA lithography.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Simulation Study on Defectivity in Directed Self-assembly Lithography

Kodera¹,

Kanai²,

Sato³

et al. 2015

We have investigated the generation mechanisms of pattern defects in directed self-assembly (DSA) lithography using a simulation method based on self-consistent field theory (SCFT). The SCFT simulation results could reproduce grid defects, which are considered to be a kind of hexagonally perforated lamellar (HPL) metastable phase, as one of the characteristic pattern defects in the coordinated line epitaxy (COOL) DSA lithography process using polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA). We found that the grid defects were susceptible to be generated when a neutral layer was weakly attractive to PMMA block. Investigation of the PMMA segment node density profiles in the grid defects revealed that the terminal segments of the PMMA blocks indicated higher node density immediately above the neutral layer. These simulation results imply that the generation mechanism of the grid defects is strongly related with the interaction between the neutral layer bottom wafer and the terminal segment of the PMMA block.