LWR enhancement for 300mm track processing

Currently, there are many developments in the field of advanced lithography that are helping to move it towards increased HVM feasibility1,2,3,4. Targeted improvements in hardware design for advanced lithography are of interest to our group specifically for HVM metrics such as LWR improvement, dose reduction processes, and defect density reduction. In this work we are building on our experience to improve LWR in an advanced lithographic process by employing novel hardware solutions on our SCREEN DUO coat develop track system5 . Our approach is to implement post-litho annealing to improve resist line roughness. Although it is preferable to achieve such improvements post-etch process we feel, as many do, that post-patterning improvements are a precursor to improvements after etching6 . We hereby present our work utilizing the SCREEN DUO coat develop track system to improve aggressive dense L/S patterns.