Novel embedded barrier layer materials for ArF non-topcoat immersion applications

Wang, Deyan; Wu, Chunyi; Xu, Cheng Bai; Barclay, George G.; Trefonas, Peter; Dinglee, Shuji

doi:10.1117/12.805299

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our approach to stabilize perpendicular orientations in high-χ BCPs uses a minor formulation additive that is both neutral to the high-χ BCP and able to segregate to and remain anchored at the top of the film during thermal annealing. , This formulation strategy enables perpendicular orientation of high-χ lamellar block copolymers without application of an external top coat and using conventional high temperature thermal annealing, thus simplifying the process and providing potential for high throughput track compatible manufacturing. The approach was inspired by Dow’s “embedded barrier layer” technology, − which utilizes a surface active additive to segregate to the top of a photoresist film providing a barrier against leaching of resist components into the immersion fluid during exposure and to modulate surface energy for the immersion process. The embedded barrier materials are minor additives in resist formulations that migrate to the top of the film during spin coating and act as a small molecule diffusion barrier layer on top of the resist.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We initially removed the ENL with RIE before staining, but we later found the Pt-stain could effectively penetrate the ENL layer to decorate the P2VP domains and impart etch resistance . The observation that the stain can penetrate through the ENL in this system is particularly noteworthy; in photoresists for 193 nm immersion lithography, one of the main functions of the embedded barrier layer is to create a protective barrier that prevents leaching of resist components into the immersion fluid (water). − Without the ENL, an island/hole morphology was observed, suggesting alignment parallel to the substrate (Figure a). However, when the ENL was present in the formulation, the desired perpendicular orientation was achieved.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Orientation Control in Thin Films of a High-χ Block Copolymer with a Surface Active Embedded Neutral Layer

Zhang

Clark

et al. 2015

Nano Lett.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Directed self-assembly (DSA) of block copolymers (BCPs) is an attractive advanced patterning technology being considered for future integrated circuit manufacturing. By controlling interfacial interactions, self-assembled microdomains in thin films of polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate), PS-b-PMMA, can be oriented perpendicular to surfaces to form line/space or hole patterns. However, its relatively weak Flory interaction parameter, χ, limits its capability to pattern sub-10 nm features. Many BCPs with higher interaction parameters are capable of forming smaller features, but these "high-χ" BCPs typically have an imbalance in surface energy between the respective blocks that make it difficult to achieve the required perpendicular orientation. To address this challenge, we devised a polymeric surface active additive mixed into the BCP solution, referred to as an embedded neutral layer (ENL), which segregates to the top of the BCP film during casting and annealing and balances the surface tensions at the top of the thin film. The additive comprises a second BCP with a "neutral block" designed to provide matched surface tensions with the respective polymers of the main BCP and a "surface anchoring block" with very low surface energy that drives the material to the air interface during spin-casting and annealing. The surface anchoring block allows the film to be annealed above the glass transition temperature of the two materials without intermixing of the two components. DSA was also demonstrated with this embedded neutral top layer formulation on a chemical patterned template using a single step coat and simple thermal annealing. This ENL technology holds promise to enable the use of high-χ BCPs in advanced patterning applications.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Orientation Control in Thin Films of a High-χ Block Copolymer with a Surface Active Embedded Neutral Layer

Zhang

Clark

et al. 2015

Nano Lett.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…So-called embedded top coats or barrier layers have been applied to address a number of challenges in 193 nm immersion and EUV lithography , or in controlling block copolymer alignment . In addition, the employment of a resist topcoat has been proposed as an effective method to reduce the effects of out-of-band radiation (OOB) in EUV lithography which has been shown to degrade imaging performance .…”

Section: Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to introduce brevity, the LSEPs prepared in this report will be referred to as LSEP-T1: poly(ECPMA 32 -stat-BzMA 34 )-TFEMA; LSEP-H1: poly(ECPMA 32 -stat-BzMA 34 )-HFACHMA; LSEP-T18 poly(ECPMA 32 -stat-BzMA 34 )-b-TFEMA 18 ; LSEP-H26: poly(ECPMA 32 -stat-BzMA 34 )-b-HFACHMA 26 .…”

Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Control of Presentation of Functional Ultraviolet Absorbers to the Surface of Photoresist Polymers Using Low Surface Energy Polymers

Du,

Siauw,

Valade

et al. 2024

Chem. Mater.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bilayer polymer thin films, that form through the surface segregation of a surface-active component, provide the ability to tailor interfacial properties and are relevant to many technological applications, including photolithography. For example, polymers with fluorine-containing end groups will selectively accumulate at the polymer−air interface when the second polymer is not fluorinated, but what happens when both polymers in a bilayer film are fluorinated? To test this, we prepared polymers via reversible addition−fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, which were then end group modified with a fluorinecontaining small molecule or by chain extension with a fluorinated monomer to form a short fluorine-containing block. These partially fluorinated polymers were then blended with an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photoresist that had a degree of in-chain fluorination, and thin films of the blends were prepared. To probe multilayer formation and assess the competition of the end group modified, fluoro-block, and in-chain fluorinated groups for the polymer−air interface, the films were characterized using contact angle measurements and static time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). The results reveal important insights into the effect of fluoro-block length on directing self-segregation of the polymeric additive. The effect of the addition of the low surface energy polymer on the lithographic performance of the photoresist was confirmed using electron beam lithography.

show abstract

“…Methacrylates are common building blocks of copolymer materials used for photoresists in the semiconductor industry . These polymers are produced by means of radical chain polymerization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Combined Computational and Experimental Study of Copolymerization Propagation Kinetics for 1‐Ethylcyclopentyl methacrylate and Methyl methacrylate

Zhang

Gao

et al. 2016

Macro Theory & Simulations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The crosspropagation of 1-ethylcyclopentyl methacrylate (ECPMA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) has been studied using a combination of quantum chemistry calculations and experiment. Our computational work utilizes a trimer-to-tetramer reaction model, coupled with an ONIOM (B3LYP/6-31G(2df,p): B3LYP/6-31G(d)) method for geometry optimization and an M06-2X/6-311+G(2df,p) method plus SMD solvation model for single point energy calculations. The results show several trends: the identity of the ultimate unit of a trimer radical affects not only the preferred conformation of the region where the reaction takes place, but also the reactivity of the radical; the addition of an ECPMA monomer to the radicals is generally favored compared to an MMA monomer; the pen-penultimate unit of a trimer radical shows a nonnegligible entropic effect; the penultimate unit effect is implicit for the ECPMA-MMA copolymer system. Finally, terminal model reactivity ratios fi tted based on the explicit rate coeffi cients calculated from the quantum chemical results are compared with those from experimental measurements. The computations not only agree qualitatively with experimentally derived results in terms of the selectivity of ECPMA-MMA crosspropagation, but also give reasonable quantitative predictions of reactivity ratios.

show abstract

Novel embedded barrier layer materials for ArF non-topcoat immersion applications

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Orientation Control in Thin Films of a High-χ Block Copolymer with a Surface Active Embedded Neutral Layer

Orientation Control in Thin Films of a High-χ Block Copolymer with a Surface Active Embedded Neutral Layer

Control of Presentation of Functional Ultraviolet Absorbers to the Surface of Photoresist Polymers Using Low Surface Energy Polymers

A Combined Computational and Experimental Study of Copolymerization Propagation Kinetics for 1‐Ethylcyclopentyl methacrylate and Methyl methacrylate

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About