Filler effects on H2 diffusion in nitrile butadiene rubbers (NBRs) blended with carbon black and silica fillers of different concentrations are first investigated by employing a volumetric analysis. Total uptake, solubility, and diffusivity of hydrogen for ten filled-NBR, including neat NBR, are determined in an exposed pressure range of 1.3 MPa~92.6 MPa. Filler dependence on hydrogen uptake and diffusion is distinctly observed in the NBRs blended with high abrasion furnace (HAF) carbon black (CB) fillers compared to NBRs blended with medium thermal furnace (MT) CB and silica filler, which is related to the specific surface area of carbon black and interface structure. The HAF CB filled-NBR follows dual sorption behavior combined with Henry’s law and the Langmuir model, responsible for two contributions of solubility from polymer and filler. However, a single gas sorption behavior coming from the polymer is observed satisfying Henry’s law up to 92.6 MPa for NBR blended with MT CB filled-NBR and silica filled-NBR. Diffusion demonstrates Knudsen and bulk diffusion behavior below and above, respectively, at certain pressures. With increasing pressure, the filler effect on diffusion is reduced, and diffusivity converges to a value. The correlation observed between diffusivity and filler content (or crosslink density) is discussed.

One of the crucial tasks of semiconductor process is reduction of manufacturing cost by shrinking the design rule with the help of fine patterning technologies. For high density DRAM application, we explored 0.29 k1 lithography with KrF 0.80NA scanner. Well-known lithography technologies such as asymmetric crosspole, dipole illumination and 6% attenuated PSMs were used for this experiment. Illumination source and mask layout optimization were carried out iteratively to meet CD target, and high contrast thin resist was applied to improve pattern fidelity. Some of the biggest challenges were coping with large MEEF and reducing simulation error. Abnormal non-open fail, probably due to large MEEF, was observed at a dense contact hole pattern. To cope with non-open fail, we tested multi-PSM which composed of alternating PSM along the x-axis direction and 6% attenuated PSM along the y-axis direction. Also we pushed sigma offset of illumination pupil more strongly than exposure tool's specification and there was no serious drawbacks of partial coherency extension. Accurate partial coherence measurement was important for obtaining target CDs and reducing OPC error. For some layers, unexpected simulation error was occurred especially at the patterns of peripheral circuit, therefore we had to calibrate simulation parameters of in-house tool and commercial tool (Solid-C) for OPC simulation. Finally we successfully demonstrated 0.29k1 KrF lithography by showing process yield over 58% in 512Mb DRAM having design rule of 90nm. Based on the results we obtained, we can conclude that 0.29k1 lithography is quite feasible for mass production and 60nm design rule DRAM devices can be manufactured with ArF dry 0.93NA. Since dry 0.93NA corresponds to 1.33NA in ArF water immersion with respect to k1, we can expect that it is possible to fabricate 42nm DRAM devices with ArF immersion lithography.