The Physics of EUV Photoresist and How It Drives Strategies for Improvement

Mark, Neisser; Cho, Kyoungyong; Petrillo, Karen

doi:10.2494/photopolymer.25.87

Cited by 15 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…2,[10][11][12] Although the standard platform for resist materials has been polymer-based chemically amplified resists, EUV lithography technology requires the development of entirely new resist platforms. 2,[13][14][15] As future nodes are continuously decreasing, the size of polymers traditionally used in photoresists has become a critical point especially with regard to linewidth roughness. 16 Furthermore, increasing EUV light absorption by the resist material is now one of the most important design criteria toward optimizing resist performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability studies on a sensitive EUV photoresist based on zinc metal oxoclusters

Thakur

Tseng

Vockenhuber

et al. 2019

J. Micro/Nanolith. MEMS MOEMS

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Background: Hybrid inorganic-organic materials have emerged as promising candidates for EUV resists. However, knowledge on their stability when deposited as thin films is essential for their performance in EUV lithography. Aim: We investigate whether the molecular structure of Zn-based metal oxoclusters is preserved upon thin film deposition and study aging processes of the thin film under different atmospheres, since these chemical changes affect the solubility properties of the material. Approach: A hybrid cluster that combines the high EUV photon absorption cross-sections of zinc and fluorine with the reactivity of methacrylate organic ligands was synthesized. The structural modifications upon thin film formation and after aging in air, nitrogen, and vacuum were studied using a combination of spectroscopic techniques. Preliminary studies on the lithographic performance of this material were performed by EUV interference lithography. Results: The Zn-based compound undergoes structural rearrangements upon thin film deposition as compared to the bulk material. The thin films degrade in air over 24 h, yet they are found to be stable for the duration and conditions of the lithography process and show high sensitivity. Conclusions: The easy dissociation of the ligands might facilitate hydrolysis and rearrangements after spincoating, which could affect the reproducibility of EUV lithography.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability studies on a sensitive EUV photoresist based on zinc metal oxoclusters

Thakur

Tseng

Vockenhuber

et al. 2019

J. Micro/Nanolith. MEMS MOEMS

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“…EUV photolithography relies on photoinduced changes in the solubility of photoresist (PR) materials as the key step. , The change in solubility is primarily induced by fragmentation or cross-linking reactions of PR films upon interaction with secondary and thermal electrons derived from photoelectrons and Auger electrons under EUV illumination. ,, Previously reported PR materials, such as those optimized for deep-UV photolithography, have been found to be suboptimal for EUV photolithography − despite a few successful applications . To explore efficient EUV PR materials, researchers have devoted particular effort to incorporating inorganic elements with large EUV absorption cross sections into PRs. − For example, Re et al examined mononuclear Sn complexes and demonstrated that they can be used to produce dense line patterns with exceptionally small line-edge roughness (LER) values of ∼1 nm .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Layer-Ordered Organooxotin Clusters for Extreme-Ultraviolet Photolithography

Woo,

Baek,

Koh

et al. 2024

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography, which enables the highthroughput production of well-defined patterns with critical dimensions on the scale of several nanometers, is essential for the fabrication of a highly integrated semiconductor. The full exploitation of EUV lithographic techniques necessitates the development of photoresist (PR) materials with both high EUV sensitivity and a long shelf-life. However, despite notable advances, the available library of EUV PR materials remains limited. Here we report EUV PRs capable of forming preorganized layers consisting of ladder-structured tetranuclear stannoxanes. Single-crystal X-ray structure analyses reveal a close interlayer distance of 8.5 Å through interdigitation of the pseudoaxial butyl chains. The developed EUV PR materials exhibit high solubility in organic solvents commonly used in semiconductor processing, enabling the preparation of PR solutions with superior wettability and uniform film-forming ability on Si wafer substrates. These PR solutions also demonstrate notable resistance to hydrolytic decomposition for as long as 1 month, indicating a long shelf-life. Our PR materials enabled negative-tone patterning processes that involved a solubility decrease upon irradiation. The presence of chromophoric ligands makes our PR materials compatible with conventional UV photolithography, through photochemical reactions involving carbonyl units. In addition, e-beam and EUV lithography could produce fine line patterns of our PRs, with critical dimensions of 20 and 15 nm, respectively. Our research showcases the potential of layer-ordered organooxotin clusters for EUV PR applications.

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“…Hybrid inorganic-organic materials are catching the attention of scientists in the field of nanolithography in connection to the introduction of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. [1][2][3][4] This new technology is currently being implemented in the semiconductor industry in order to reach the sub-20 nm nodes required for the steady miniaturization of the components in integrated circuits. The much shorter wavelength (13.5 nm) employed by EUV lithography as compared to the ones used in traditional optical lithography (365, 248 or 193 nm light) allows to achieve the theoretical limit of 10 nm resolution in the optical projection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%