All-dry processible and PAG-attached molecular glasses for improved lithographic performance

As the semiconductor industry moves forward, resolution limits are being pushed to the sub-30 nm regime. In order to meet these demands, radical new resist design and processes must be explored. We have developed a molecular glass system for all-dry processing conditions. Physical vapor deposition (PVD) has been used for film formation onto silicon wafers. PVD deposits a uniform film of controlled thickness free from impurities that are often introduced by casting solvents used in traditional spin coating methods. Thermal development is used as an alternative to processing in solvents in order to prevent resist swelling and pattern collapse by capillary forces. The deposited molecule is designed to crosslink upon E-beam irradiation without additives, and therefore form a homogeneous, single component film. PAG-attached molecular glasses have been synthesized in order to promote film homogeneity as well. By tethering PAG directly to the molecular glass core, issues such as PAG aggregation can be remedied. Acid migration, which increases blur and LER, can also be hindered.

[1]  Kenji Gamo,et al.  Novel Electron-Beam Molecular Resists with High Resolution and High Sensitivity for Nanometer Lithography , 2004 .

[2]  Kenneth L. Kearns,et al.  High‐Modulus Organic Glasses Prepared by Physical Vapor Deposition , 2010, Advanced materials.

[3]  Nelson Felix,et al.  High‐Resolution Patterning of Molecular Glasses Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide , 2006 .

[4]  Mingxing Wang,et al.  Novel Ionic Photoacid Generators (PAGs) and Corresponding PAG Bound Polymers , 2007 .

[5]  K. Lavery,et al.  Thin-film solid-state proton NMR measurements using a synthetic mica substrate: polymer blends. , 2009, Journal of magnetic resonance.

[6]  Christopher K. Ober,et al.  Hydroxyphenylbenzene derivatives as glass forming molecules for high resolution photoresists , 2008 .

[7]  Nelson Felix,et al.  Solid state NMR investigation of photoresist molecular glasses including blend behavior with a photoacid generator , 2009 .

[8]  Hans-Werner Schmidt,et al.  All-dry photoresist systems: physical vapor deposition of molecular glasses , 2008, SPIE Advanced Lithography.

[9]  Kenji Gamo,et al.  Amorphous Molecular Materials: Development of a Novel Positive Electron-beam Molecular Resist , 1999 .

[10]  Yoshikazu Takahashi,et al.  FABRICATION OF POLYUREA RESISTS BY VAPOR DEPOSITION POLYMERIZATION FOR ALL DRY PROCESS , 1995 .

[11]  Mingxing Wang,et al.  Novel anionic photoacid generators (PAGs) and corresponding PAG bound polymers for sub-50 nm EUV lithography , 2007 .

[12]  Seiji Shinkai,et al.  Novel conformational isomerism of water-soluble calix[4]arenes , 1992 .

[13]  C. Gutsche,et al.  Calixarenes 9 : Conformational isomers of the ethers and esters of calix[4]arenes , 1983 .

[14]  C. Grant Willson,et al.  Acid catalyst mobility in resist resins , 2002 .

[15]  Hans-Werner Schmidt,et al.  Combinatorial preparation and characterization of thin-film multilayer electro-optical devices. , 2007, The Review of scientific instruments.