Effects of photoacid generator incorporation into the polymer main chain on 193nm chemically amplified resist behavior and lithographic performance

Abstract

Polymer structure effect on dissolution characteristics and acid diffusion in chemically amplified deep ultraviolet resists J.The need for chemically amplified resists ͑CARs͒ that can resolve sub-65-nm node features with sufficient linewidth roughness ͑LWR͒ control and sensitivity to meet the requirements outlined in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors has placed a significant and daunting challenge for the design of resist materials that can achieve these goals. In this article, the ability to improve the performance of CARs designed for 193 nm lithography via the direct bonding of a photoacid generator ͑PAG͒ anion into the resist polymer main chain has been investigated. The bound-PAG anion resist is shown to achieve higher sensitivity and resolution with smaller LWR than their blended-PAG resist analog. Binding of the PAG anion provides reduced photoacid diffusivity, higher maximum PAG loadings, and more homogeneous PAG distributions that help achieve these three critical resist requirements.

Studying the Mechanism of Hybrid Nanoparticle Photoresists: Effect of Particle Size on Photopatterning

“…Figure 1-a shows the dissolution curves of HfMAA thin films before and after 254 nm DUV exposure in a negative developer. No photoacid generator or any other photoactive compounds, which were conventionally considered as the important component for CAR polymer-based resist, 18 were added. The hybrid photoresist film is more difficult to be dissolved after exposure than the unexposed films of the same thickness (100 nm), although all films can be dissolved within 120 s. The intrinsic chemical/morphological changes in the hybrid nanoparticles induced by UV exposure lead to their solubility changes and, therefore, the formation of photopatterns without addition of photoactive compounds.…”

Understanding the effects of photoacid distribution homogeneity and diffusivity on critical dimension control and line edge roughness in chemically amplified resists

“…The bound-PAG resist has high PAG loading ͑10.0 mol % ͒ and low photoacid diffusivity ͑0.07 nm 2 / s͒, while the blended-PAG resist has low PAG loading ͑2.0 mol % ͒ and high photoacid diffusivity ͑0.5 nm 2 / s͒. 12,13 The two resist models were designed to have the same sizing dose ͑CD Nom =70 nm at 17 mJ/ cm 2 ͒ under the same NILS ͑=17.5͒ to represent two resists with equal photospeed for the nominally 70 nm features used in the rest of the simulations.…”

“…12 These resist platforms allow for the control and reduction of photoacid diffusivity to reduce diffusioninduced image blur while maintaining desirable high photospeeds by improving the maximum possible PAG loadings that can be used in the resist formulation. 12 These resist platforms allow for the control and reduction of photoacid diffusivity to reduce diffusioninduced image blur while maintaining desirable high photospeeds by improving the maximum possible PAG loadings that can be used in the resist formulation.…”

Single-component molecular resists containing bound photoacid generator functionality

“…6 In an attempt to overcome these current limitations, new classes of CARs have been developed. The most notable new classes of materials have been molecular glass photoresists [7][8][9][10][11][12] and polymer-bound photoacid generator (PAG) photoresists [13][14][15][16][17][18] . Molecular glass photoresists were originally introduced because it was thought that the reduction in resist molecule pixel size would improve LER.…”