Deprotection Volume Characteristics and Line Edge Morphology in Chemically Amplified Resists

Published

June 1, 2003

Author(s)

Ronald L. Jones, C G. Willson, T J. Hu, Vivek M. Prabhu, Christopher L. Soles, Eric K. Lin, Wen-Li Wu, D L. Goldfarb, M Angelopoulos, B C. Trinque

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the form of spatial heterogeneity of deprotection at the eventual pattern edge. The form results from the packing of fuzzy blobs consisting of volumes of deprotection created by individual photogenerated acids. The form and size of these blobs are determined using Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) for a model photoresist polymer and photoacid generator (PAG) mixture. From this fundamental building block, the surface of any CA photoresist prior to development can be described. Finally, the form of the fuzzy blobs is compared to the form of LER at a model sidewall. To avoid complications of aerial image, sidewall deprotection results purely from acid diffusion. The form of LER is characterized by fourier transformation of atomic force microscopy (AFM) images. The resulting form describes random etching up to a cutoff length scale. However, the cutoff length scale is not consistent with the size of single deprotection volumes.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of SPIE

Volume

5039

Conference Dates

February 24-26, 2003

Conference Location

Santa Clara, CA

Conference Title

SPIE Advanced Lithography

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

acid diffusion, neutron scattering, photolithography, photoresists, surface roughness

Citation

Jones, R. , Willson, C. , Hu, T. , Prabhu, V. , Soles, C. , Lin, E. , Wu, W. , Goldfarb, D. , Angelopoulos, M. and Trinque, B. (2003), Deprotection Volume Characteristics and Line Edge Morphology in Chemically Amplified Resists, Proceedings of SPIE, Santa Clara, CA, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=852190 (Accessed October 27, 2025)