Alternatives to Chemical Amplification for 193 nm Lithography

Research has been conducted to develop alternatives to chemically amplified 193 nm photoresist materials that will be able to achieve the requirements associated with sub-32 nm device technology. New as well as older photoresist design concepts for non-chemically amplified 193 nm photoresists that have the potential to enable improvements in line edge roughness while maintaining adequate sensitivity, base solubility, and dry etch resistance for high volume manufacturing are being explored. The particular platforms that have been explored in this work include dissolution inhibitor photoresist systems, chain scissioning polymers, and photoresist systems based on polymers incorporating formyloxyphenyl functional groups. In studies of two-component acidic polymer/dissolution inhibitor systems, it was found that compositions using ortho-nitrobenzyl cholate (NBC) as the dissolution inhibitor and poly norbornene hexafluoro alcohol (PNBHFA) as the base resin are capable of printing 90 nm dense line/space patterns upon exposure to a 193 nm laser. Studies of chain scission enhancement in methylmethacrylate copolymers showed that incorporating small amounts of absorptive a-cleavage monomers significantly enhanced sensitivity with an acceptable increase in absorbance at 193 nm. Specifically, it was found that adding 3 mol% of α-methyl styrene (α-MS) reduced the dose to clear of PMMA-based resist from 1400 mJ/cm 2 to 420 mJ/cm 2 . Preliminary data are also presented on a direct photoreactive design concept based on the photo-Fries reaction of formyloxyphenyl functional groups in acrylic copolymers.