Stochastic simulation of pattern formation in electron beam lithography

Abstract

A molecular scale simulation of the pattern formation process in electron beam lithography based on the stochastic approach is proposed. The formation of the initial resists structure is achieved by sequentially joining randomly selected monomers. The effects of electron exposure for positive-type resists are introduced by scission of the polymer chain. The effects of electron exposure for negative-type resists are introduced by crosslinkings among the polymer chains. The fundamental properties, such as sensitivity curves, molecular weight dependence, and exposure condition effects on pattern profiles, are well reproduced by the simulation. The simulation results are shown to be appropriate when compared with the properties reported from the experiment.

Stochastic simulation of pattern formation for chemically amplified resist in electron beam lithography

“…[6][7][8][9][10][11] We have also proposed a stochastic simulation of the pattern formation process for scission and crosslinking in EBL. 12) Although the simulation model was simple, the fundamental properties, such as sensitivity curves and exposure condition effects on the pattern, are well reproduced by the simulation for both positive-and negative-type resists.…”

Stochastic Simulation of Development Process in Electron Beam Lithography

“…The method for creating the initial structure of the resist in the simulation of this study was the same as in the previous study [13]. The target resist was PMMA, which is positive type non-chemically amplified resist.…”

“…The electron beam exposure model was almost the same as the previous study [13], but a radiation yield G, which was defined as the number of scission events caused by an energy absorption of 100 eV, was introduced to quantify the exposure dose. The G value used in this study was 1.9.…”

“…We have developed stochastic simulations of pattern formation for electron beam lithography [13,14], extreme ultraviolet lithography [15][16][17] in our previous studies. In our previous simulations, it was possible to analyze the effects of resist molecules on the basic characteristics of lithography and the pattern shape.…”

Computational Study of Pattern Formation for Chemically Amplified Resists in Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography

“…We recently proposed the stochastic simulation technique for ultraviolet (UV) curing in UV nanoimprint lithography [9][10][11]. A simulation study of the pattern formation process in electron beam lithography has also been reported [12,13], in which the basic resist and process characteristics were well described by the simulation.…”