Polyelectrolyte Effects in Model Photoresist Developer Solutions

Published

August 1, 2003

Author(s)

Vivek M. Prabhu, Ronald L. Jones, Eric K. Lin, Wen-Li Wu

Abstract

We demonstrate that the industrially relevant deprotected photoresist poly(4-hydroxy styrene) is a polyelectrolyte when dissolved in aqueous base solutions. These findings demonstrate the well-known monomer-monomer correlations indicative of polyelectrolytes as measured by small-angle neutron scattering. The correlation peak at finite wave vector is a function of solution ionic strength and polymer concentration. The weakening of the polyelectrolyte effects with added salts and excess base is also demonstrated. These studies emphasize the role of salt additives and aqueous base concentration and their influence on equilibrium solution properties such as the second virial coefficient and single chain radius of gyration. The fundamental role of these equilibrium properties with respect to the dissolution process is speculated.

Citation

Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B

Volume

21

Issue

4

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

additives, neutron scattering, phase behavior, photoresist, polyelectrolyte, small-angle

Citation

Prabhu, V. , Jones, R. , Lin, E. and Wu, W. (2003), Polyelectrolyte Effects in Model Photoresist Developer Solutions, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=852091 (Accessed October 10, 2025)