Studies of the Photo Acid Generator Material Design for Chemically Amplified Photoresists

Utsumi, Yoshiyuki; Seshimo, Takehiro; Komuro, Yoshitaka; Kawaue, Akiya; Ishiduka, Keita; Matsuzawa, Kensuke; Hada, Hideo; Onodera, Junichi

doi:10.1143/jjap.48.06fc07

Cited by 29 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…When encountering anions and protons, acids are formed and acids catalyze a reaction to change the polarity in a CAR. Both acid diffusion [6][7][8][9] and the polarity change reaction are key for latent image formation, and they ensure that either the exposed or unexposed regions become soluble in the developer to form an arbitrary pattern. PAGs are mainly used in CAR, and recently they also have been incorporated in new non-CARs for EUV lithography.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of electron affinity of photoacid generators: density functional theory calculations using static and dynamic models

Okamoto¹,

Kozawa²

2021

Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.

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The electron affinity (EA) of a photoacid generator (PAG) is an important parameter for estimating the acid generation efficiency in a chemically amplified resist upon exposure to ionizing radiation such as EUV light and an electron beam because the electron attachment of PAG induces PAG decomposition and acid generation. In this study, EAs of ionic and non-ionic PAGs were estimated by density functional theory calculations using static and dynamic models. The former model indicated that radical anions are produced without changing the PAG structure even after electron attachment. The latter model indicated that the product structures are relaxed to their stable structures after electron attachment (dissociative electron attachment). By demonstrating the relationship between the EA and acid yield, the most preferable model was revealed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of electron affinity of photoacid generators: density functional theory calculations using static and dynamic models

Okamoto¹,

Kozawa²

2021

Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.

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“…[3][4][5] The increase in acid generator concentration and the suppression of the subsequent acid diffusion is one way to simultaneously improve resolution and LER. [6][7][8][9][10][11] On the other hand, the feature size is shrinking so markedly that the uniformity of acid generator distribution in resist matrices is becoming a serious problem. The phase separation between resist components has also been suggested.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Electron and Hole Transfer in Anion-Bound Chemically Amplified Resists Used in Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography

Komuro

Yamamoto

Utsumi

et al. 2013

Appl. Phys. Express

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The uniformity of acid generator distribution and the length of acid diffusion are serious problems in the development of resist materials used for the 16 nm node and below. Anion-bound polymers in which the anion part of onium salts is polymerized have attracted much attention for solving these problems. In this study, the reaction mechanism of an anion-bound polymer in cyclohexanone was clarified using pulse radiolysis. The design of an efficient electron and hole transfer system is essential to the enhancement of resist performance.

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“…The system integration of the optical elements drives a small loss in optical contrast, but a larger loss in contrast is driven by acid diffusion in the resist. Resist suppliers continue to make good progress on the reduction of acid diffusion through the use of large PAG ions that restrict mobility 7 , base quencher that consumes mobile acid in unexposed areas 8 and new innovations like polymer bound PAG systems 9 . However, some methods of acid diffusion control like base quencher can hurt sensitivity, which highlights the challenge of balancing RLS performance.…”

Section: Resolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resist fundamentals for resolution, LER, and sensitivity (RLS) performance tradeoffs and their relation to micro-bridging defects

Rathsack

Nafus

Hatakeyama

et al. 2009

Advances in Resist Materials and Processing Technology XXVI

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High NA immersion and EUV lithography processes are challenged to meet stringent control requirements for the 22 nm node and beyond. Lithography processes must balance resolution, LWR and sensitivity (RLS) performance tradeoffs while scaling resist thickness to 100 nm and below 1-3 . Hardware modules including coat, bake and development seek to enable resist processes to balance RLS limitations. The focus of this paper is to study the fundamentals of the RLS performance tradeoffs through a combination of calibrated resist simulations and experiments.This work seeks to extend the RLS learning through the creation of calibrated resist models that capture the exposure kinetics, acid diffusion properties, deprotection kinetics and dissolution response as a function of PAG loading in a 193 nm polymer system. The calibrated resist models are used to quantify the resolution and sensitivity performance tradeoffs as well as the degradation of resist contrast relative to image contrast at small dimensions.Calibrated resist simulations are capable of quantifying resolution and sensitivity tradeoffs, but lack the ability to model LWR. LWR is challenging to simulate (lattice models) and to measure; due to the dependence on spectral frequency. This paper seeks to use micro-bridging experiments as means to better understand the statistical nature of LWR. Microbridging analysis produces a statistical distribution of "discrete bridging events" that encompasses practical variations across scanner, track and resist. Micro-bridging and LWR experiments are done using a 1.2 NA immersion system on 45 nm space structures (90 nm pitch) as a means to demonstrate the concept, but the methodology can also be used to study EUVL processes as the technology matures. The understanding of the RLS performance tradeoffs enables TEL to develop future hardware and processes that support industry scaling goals.

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Studies of the Photo Acid Generator Material Design for Chemically Amplified Photoresists

Cited by 29 publications

References 11 publications

Estimation of electron affinity of photoacid generators: density functional theory calculations using static and dynamic models

Estimation of electron affinity of photoacid generators: density functional theory calculations using static and dynamic models

Electron and Hole Transfer in Anion-Bound Chemically Amplified Resists Used in Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography

Resist fundamentals for resolution, LER, and sensitivity (RLS) performance tradeoffs and their relation to micro-bridging defects

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