100-nm generation contact patterning by low temperature 193-nm resist reflow process

Contact lithography for the 100nm generation is a difficult challenge with current layer 193nm resist processes. The SIA roadmap lists the contact hole size for 100 nm lithography as 115 nm. Even with next generation very high NA (>0.7) 193nm exposure tools, early results indicate that these contact hole sizes can not be obtained with standard processing techniques. Therefore, we have investigated the feasibility of using resist reflow to obtain small contact hole sizes.