New Polymer Design by DLS Analysis of Development Defect Detection

Advances in Patterning Materials for 193 nm Immersion Lithography

“…Frequently, so-called blob defects of precipitated material (similar to that previously seen in dry lithography) have been observed in dark-field imaging of topcoat-free immersion resists . During development, suspended gel or clusters that have lower solubility in the developer can easily reattach to the surface and form blob defects, especially during the sudden pH change accompanying the DI water rinse. , Lower numbers of blob defects have been correlated with more negative zeta potential of the additive and decreased static water contact angle of the resist surface after development, , lower water contact angles after postexposure bake, and lower water or developer contact angles of the unexposed resist surface. Most of these correlations are consistent with the hypothesis that hydrophobic aggregates can precipitate and attach to a hydrophobic resist surface during development to create blob defects, while the more hydrophilic aggregates of resist-type additives would be more easily rinsed away from a hydrophilic resist surface during development .…”

Modification of guar gum through grafting of 4‐vinyl pyridine using potassium peroxymonosulphate/ascorbic acid redox pair

“…Furthermore, single component resist 4 can avoid such a negative effect of aggregation of each resist component due to the incorporation of the PAG group into the photoresist. For the conventional resists, positive‐type resists are generally a mixture of resist polymers, PAG etc., however, it have been reported that the aggregation of each resist component leads to a poor lithographic performance 7…”

“…For the CAR, it is necessary to blend the resist resin, photo‐acid generator (PAG) and cross‐linker in some cases; however, aggregation sometimes occurred due to the immiscibility of each component. This aggregation negatively affects the LER, therefore, the reduction of the number of resist components is an effective way to improve the LER 7, 8. In particular, the incorporation of PAG moieties into the resists can not only avoid the negative effects of aggregation, but also reduces the photo‐generated acid diffusion length due to large anionic species.…”

A chemically amplified molecular glass resist with an ionic photoacid generator and a single protection group

“…In general, the mixture composed of a resist resin, photoacid generator (PAG), and cross‐linker in some cases is used as CARs. However, the aggregation of each component sometimes occurs because of their immiscibility, and this aggregation increases the LER value . Therefore, a decrease in the number of resist components is an effective way to improve the LER.…”