Development of Dissolution Inhibitor in Chemically Amplified Positive Tone Thick Film Resist

Abstract

Thick film resist is applied to a template for microelectrode used in semiconductor device integration. Utilization of positive type resist in chemically amplified system for thick film is expected to improve production efficiency of semiconductor device integration, but improvement of resolution is required. In order to improve the resolution of chemically amplified positive tone thick film resist, chemical structure of the dissolution inhibitor (DI) was designed for the control of solubility in resist polymer. The increase of molecular size in DI improved the dissolution inhibiting ability for the resist polymer in the unexposed area and the high acidity of the deprotected DI having carboxyl group improved dissolution promoting ability for the resist polymer in the exposed area. The resist containing DI possessing a large molecular size and high acidity improved its sensitivity and resolution.

Influence of Glycerol in Developer on Novolak-Type Positive-Tone Resist Solubility

“…Therefore, this study evaluates the effect of adding a water-soluble organic solvent in an alkali developer, particularly glycerol. The lithography performance of a novolak-type positive-tone resist in developer TMAH aqueous solution with or without glycerol is observed and compared based on a sensitivity curve and exposure dose vs. solubility curve [13][14][15][16]. Furthermore, we compared the resolution of the novolak resist with the developed TMAH aqueous solution with or without glycerol by the lithography simulation system (PROLITH) and direct observation of the resist pattern profile using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images [17][18][19][20].…”