Process enhancements for negative tone development (NTD)

The negative tone development (NTD) process has proven benefits for superior imaging performance in 193nm lithography. Shrink materials, such as AZ® RELACS® have found widespread use as a resolution enhancement technology in conventional 248nm (DUV), 193 nm dry (ArF) and 193 nm immersion (ArFi) lithography. Surfactant rinses, such as AZ® FIRM® are employed as yield enhancement materials to improve the lithographic performance by avoiding pattern collapse, eliminating defects, and improving CDU. This paper describes the development and recent achievements obtained with new shrink and rinse materials for application in NTD patterning processes.