Study of the lithography characteristics of novolak resist at different PAC concentrations

Abstract

In a recent study, we measured the exposure and development characteristics of five types of novolak resists with varying photoactive compound (PAC) concentrations. This report presents measurement results, as well as results of comparisons of patterns and process margins, obtained using the PROLITH lithography simulator. We also used PROLITH to investigate the effects of PAC concentrations on the swing ratio. Both experiment and simulation confirm that increasing PAC loading results in improved exposure latitude and reduced feature size swing ratio.

Enhancing the Novolak resin resist resolution by adding phenol to fractionated resin

“…(4) The results indicate adding phenol improves pattern profiles and DOF compared to the case of no phenol added. In particular, the composition ratio of 10:5:4 (PA) resulted in optimal improvements in shape and DOF.…”

“…3 Low molecular weight phenol resin is added to prepare a resin with a tandem structure. 4 Finally, a PAC is added to form the photoresist.…”

“…Previously, we investigated the effects on lithography characteristics of differences in the properties of novolac resists [1][2][3][4]. These properties included average molecular weight, amount of photoactive compound (PAC) added, and the esterification ratio of the PAC.…”