Wet Etchants Penetration through Photoresist during Wet Patterning

Garnier, Philippe

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/ssp.282.141

Cited by 2 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(9 reference statements)

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“…Such HF penetration difference could be attributed to the free volume size of polymer after coating. Free volume size of KrF A resin ranges 0.277~0.289nm [1][2], which may be larger than the free volume size of KrF B polymers. HF molecular size 0.09 nm can readily penetrate through KrF A resin [1].…”

Section: B Resist Type Studymentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Such penetration is because HF molecular size is 0.09 nm [1] and is much smaller than KrF C polymer free volume size. HF can slowly diffuse through the 10000A resist and react with bottom oxide [2]. However, such penetration can be slowed down by additional baking.…”

Section: Materials Production and Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the resist composition comparison (Table 1), the major different components are cresol novolak resin in i-line D and acrylic copolymer in KrF C. Because the polymer types affect the free volume size of resist, i-line D should have a smaller free volume size than KrF C [3]. HF can penetrate faster through acrylic copolymer than through cresol novolak resin [2]. Thus, KrF C has a larger oxide loss than i-line D. Higher oxide loss reduces the adhesion force at the interface between KrF C and surface oxide, which lead to the lifting of the resist.…”

Section: B Resist Type Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The exposed area is soaked in HF-based wet etch chemicals to remove the oxide. The compatibility between photoresist and wet HF etchants are of great importance, because an incompatible resist to HF-based wet etch chemicals can result in resist lifting and/or HF penetration during wet oxide etching process [1][2][3]. As advance nanoscale patterning technology requires new resist types with high resolution lithography [4,5], the compatibility study on new resist types is also essential.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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HF Compatibility Study on KrF and I-Line System Resist

Chen,

Lim,

Chai

2023

KEM

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Advance nanoscale patterning technology requires high resolution lithography, from ultraviolet (UV, i-line system) to deep ultraviolet (DUV, KrF system) until extreme ultraviolet (EUV), but the compatibility study of new resist types and wet etchant is lacking. The compatibility is defined as the duration of a photoresist being able to withstand in wet oxide etchant. Poor compatibility has potential resist lifting and/or penetration during wet etch process, which causes electronic device performance drifting. Currently, wet oxide etching is widely used in the gate oxide wet etch using patterned resist, as well as in the backside oxide removal with blanket resist front-side coverage. In this paper, we explore the compatibility and understand the impact factors, based on commonly used resist (i.e., KrF and i-line system resist) and wet etch chemicals (i.e. HF based etchant) in industry. It is important to do a quick and straightforward compatibility check before we implement new resists on actual product wafers, to prevent poor compatibility caused resist lifting and/or penetration during wet etch process. Based on oxide thickness check and resist lifting phenomena, it is found that resist baking condition, resist polymer type, resist composition, and lag time from resist coating to wet oxide etching all will affect the compatibility between HF based etchant and resist.

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Section: B Resist Type Studymentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Materials Production and Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Resist Type Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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HF Compatibility Study on KrF and I-Line System Resist

Chen,

Lim,

Chai

2023

KEM

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“…The wet etching of a metal substrate using an overlaid patterned photoresist pattern is limited by poor adhesion of the overlying photoresist to the metal substrate, as well as the isotropic nature of the wet chemical etch process [3]. The typical harsh etch chemistry and lengthy wet etch process can lead to undesirable defects ranging from "mouse bites" or notching, photoresist cracking, to extreme cases when the photoresist peels off.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Profile control in conductor metal wet etch with advanced photoresists

Moore¹,

Modl

Li³

et al. 2023

Advances in Patterning Materials and Processes XL

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Despite their long history in the electronics industry, copper metal layers remain important components as interconnection layers in IC fabrication due to their higher thermal and electrical conductivity as well as their higher electromigration resistance. Structuring the copper metal layer via wet chemical etching places demands on the photoresist mask, requiring resistance to harsh etch chemistry and good adhesion to the substrate to prevent delamination and defects. The photoresist formulation AZ® TD-2010 is a positive-tone, DNQ-based i-line photoresist that incorporates an additional surface-grafting component to deliver improved etch performance via enhanced photoresist adhesion on metal substrates. The in-situ priming of the photoresist formulation during the patterning process leads to a greater interfacial adhesion, resulting in steep sidewalls, with a greater than 20° increase in etch angle over formulations without adhesion promoter, while maintaining undercut depth and Cu CD. The AZ®TD-2010 photoresist can also be used at high thickness to cover topography steps formed from underlying layers, while also exhibiting high enough photospeed to maintain production throughput standards for IC manufacturing.

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Wet Etchants Penetration through Photoresist during Wet Patterning

Abstract: Wet etchant infiltration through photo sensitive resists have been studied with new methodology. This latter enables a very quick response to select wet etchant / polymer compatibility to protect underneath film from being degraded.

Cited by 2 publications

References 11 publications

HF Compatibility Study on KrF and I-Line System Resist

HF Compatibility Study on KrF and I-Line System Resist

Profile control in conductor metal wet etch with advanced photoresists

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