Probing Surface and Bulk Chemistry in Resist Films Using Near Edge X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure

Published

May 1, 2002

Author(s)

Joseph~undefined~undefined~undefined~undefined~undefined Lenhart, Ronald L. Jones, Eric K. Lin, Christopher Soles, Wen-Li Wu, Daniel A. Fischer, S Sambasivan, D L. Goldfarb, M Angelopoulos

Abstract

Control of the shape, critical dimension (CD), and roughness is critical for the fabrication of sub 100 nm features, where the CD and roughness budget are approaching the molecular dimension of the resist polymers. One focus of our research is identifying mechanisms that cause lithographic patterns to deviate near an interface. Chemically amplified photoresists are extremely prone to interfacial or surface phenomenon, which causes deviations in the pattern profile near the interface. Striking examples include T-topping, closure, footing, and undercutting. In particular, initial focus is placed on the resist / air interface. It has been speculated that T-topping, closure, and tapering of lithographic patterns is caused by a difference in the deprotection kinetics at the resist surface relative to the bulk. Here, near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) was used to illustrate that the surface extent of deprotection in a model resist film can be different than the bulk deprotection.

Proceedings Title

Electron, Ion, and Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication, International Conference | 46th | | AVS

Volume

20

Issue

No. 6

Conference Dates

May 1, 2002

Conference Location

Undefined

Conference Title

Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B (JVST-B)

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

absorption, chemically amplified resists, deprotection, lithography, NEXAFS, photolithograph, photoresist, spectroscopy, X-Ray

Citation

Lenhart, J. , Jones, R. , Lin, E. , Soles, C. , Wu, W. , Fischer, D. , Sambasivan, S. , Goldfarb, D. and Angelopoulos, M. (2002), Probing Surface and Bulk Chemistry in Resist Films Using Near Edge X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure, Electron, Ion, and Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication, International Conference | 46th | | AVS, Undefined, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=852004 (Accessed March 13, 2025)