Process parameter influence to negative tone development process for double patterning

Process parameter influence in resist process with negative tone development (NTD) to pattern size (CD), CD uniformity (CUD), and defectivity are studied to estimate the impact for process stability in high volume manufacturing (HVM) of semiconductor devices. Since double exposure process is one of the candidates in contact hole patterning, exposure to exposure delay was studied. There is a possibility to design the off-line system with NTD process, therefore, exposure - PEB delay and PEB - development delay were studied. As basic development parameter studies, development time, developer temperature, developer volume, and rinse time dependency on CD, CDU, and defectivity were investigated.