Photoresists in extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL)

Simone, Danilo De; Vesters, Yannick; Vandenberghe, Geert

doi:10.1515/aot-2017-0021

Cited by 33 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Reviews on EUV resists have been published in 2017 summarizing important developments [17,18]. Nevertheless, dramatic changes are under way in the field after consensus in the semiconductor industry community has been reached to accept EUV as the main next generation lithographic option.…”

Section: Introduction-nanostructure Formation In Semiconductor Lithogmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This graph is also based on data from reference [26]. The reflective optics used in EUV technology is apparently more complicated than the refractive optics used at 193 nm and longer wavelengths, see for instance a scheme of a projection system depicted in Figure 1b, adopted by ref [17], which as stated there is based on a previous presentation [27]. In addition, new technological challenges in mask fabrication had to be addressed, but the technology nowadays has been proved capable for effective radiation imaging.…”

Section: Euv Introduction and Main Technical Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adapted from [25], with permission from IOP Publishing, 2020 (b) A scheme of a EUV lithography system where the different parts, including source, illuminator, reticle stage (mask), and projection optics are depicted. Adapted from [17], with permission from De Gruyter, 2020.…”

Section: Euv Introduction and Main Technical Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High Sensitivity Resists for EUV Lithography: A Review of Material Design Strategies and Performance Results

2020

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The need for decreasing semiconductor device critical dimensions at feature sizes below the 20 nm resolution limit has led the semiconductor industry to adopt extreme ultra violet (EUV) lithography with exposure at 13.5 nm as the main next generation lithographic technology. The broad consensus on this direction has triggered a dramatic increase of interest on resist materials of high sensitivity especially designed for use in the EUV spectral region in order to meet the strict requirements needed for overcoming the source brightness issues and securing the cost efficiency of the technology. To this direction both fundamental studies on the radiation induced chemistry in this spectral area and a plethora of new ideas targeting at the design of new highly sensitive and top performing resists have been proposed. Besides the traditional areas of acid-catalyzed chemically amplified resists and the resists based on polymer backbone breaking new unconventional ideas have been proposed based on the insertion of metal compounds or compounds of other highly absorbing at EUV atoms in the resist formulations. These last developments are reviewed here. Since the effort targets to a new understanding of electron-induced chemical reactions that dominate the resist performance in this region these last developments may lead to unprecedented changes in lithographic technology but can also strongly affect other scientific areas where electron-induced chemistry plays a critical role.

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Section: Introduction-nanostructure Formation In Semiconductor Lithogmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Euv Introduction and Main Technical Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High Sensitivity Resists for EUV Lithography: A Review of Material Design Strategies and Performance Results

2020

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“…During the exposure step, part of the resist is exposed to photons (13.5 nm wavelength) that are absorbed by atoms, while the electrons are excited and emitted. During elastic and inelastic scattering in the matrix, these electrons generate a cascade of secondary electrons, which interact with PAG molecules [16]. This results in the generation of acids (protons) where the material is exposed to light [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular Modeling of EUV Photoresist Revealing the Effect of Chain Conformation on Line-Edge Roughness Formation

et al. 2019

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Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) is a leading-edge technology for pattern miniaturization and the production of advanced electronic devices. One of the current critical challenges for further scaling down the technology is reducing the line-edge roughness (LER) of the final patterns while simultaneously maintaining high resolution and sensitivity. As the target sizes of features and LER become closer to the polymer size, polymer chain conformations and their distribution should be considered to understand the primary sources of LER. Here, we proposed a new approach of EUV photoresist modeling with an explicit description of polymer chains using a coarse-grained model. Our new simulation model demonstrated that interface variation represented by width and fluctuation at the edge of the pattern could be caused by characteristic changes of the resist material during the lithography processes. We determined the effect of polymer chain conformation on LER formation and how it finally contributed to LER formation with various resist material parameters (e.g., Flory–Huggins parameter, molecular weight, protected site ratio, and Tg).

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“…This has a strong impact on the technology: reflective optics instead of transmissive, exposure under vacuum, etc. [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photoresist Absorption Measurement at Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Wavelength by Thin Film Transmission Method

Shehzad¹,

Vesters

Simone³

et al. 2019

J. Photopol. Sci. Technol.

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A methodology to measure photoresist absorption under soft X-ray radiation is presented in this work. The high photoresist sensitivity required for the extreme-ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) technology can be achieved by increasing the EUV photon absorption of photoresist material, hence high extinction coefficient is preferred. To determine the extinction coefficient of a photoresist, a small-scale manufacturing process has been developed to obtain free standing thin silicon nitride (SiN) membranes and use it as sample holder for photoresist thin film characterization. The SiN membrane has been characterized in terms of film thickness, composition and density. Transmission measurements through the thin films of SiN and photoresist have been carried out in the energy range between 90.6 eV and 92.6 eV by using X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) at the BEAR beamline Elettra synchrotron research facility, in Italy. The method permits an experimental measurement of the absorption coefficient of thin films, with an accuracy of 3 ×10-4 , providing a tool helpful for EUV photoresist research and development.

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Photoresists in extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL)

Cited by 33 publications

References 39 publications

High Sensitivity Resists for EUV Lithography: A Review of Material Design Strategies and Performance Results

High Sensitivity Resists for EUV Lithography: A Review of Material Design Strategies and Performance Results

Molecular Modeling of EUV Photoresist Revealing the Effect of Chain Conformation on Line-Edge Roughness Formation

Photoresist Absorption Measurement at Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Wavelength by Thin Film Transmission Method

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