Structural Design of Resin Matrix and Acid-labile Dissolution Inhibitor of Chemical Amplification Positive Electron-beam Resist for Gigabit Lithography.

Abstract

The effect of m/p-cresol novolak molecular-weight-distribution (MWD) and dissolution inhibitor structure on resist performance were investigated. A novolak resin richer in p-cresol ratio gave a large dissolution inhibition capability of polymeric dissolution inhibitor, tetrahydropyranyl (THP) protected-polymeric dissolution inhibitor. In particular, a high molecular-weight novolak resin richer in p-cresol ratio was regarded as an effective matrix of a chemical amplification (CA) positive resist. THP protectedphenolic compounds with extended backbone structures showed a large dissolution inhibition. The resist with MWD controlled resin and a THP-protected phenolic compound can achieve high resolution patterns (100-nm contact holes ) with high sensitivity (6.0 µC/cm2).

Fundamental Studies of Acid-Breakable Resins for Chemical-Amplification Positive Resist Matrices.

“…The use of a matrix resin whose molecular-weight distribution (MWD) can be controlled -for example, a tandemtype resin -is an effective method for improving the performance of a conventional novolak-resinbased positive photoresist [3]. In a previous paper [4,5], we described the performance of a CA resist with an MWD-controlled matrix resin. This resist could be used to achieve 100-nm contact hole patterns with high sensitivity (6.0 µGcm2 at 50 kV).…”