Application of ethyltrimethylammonium hydroxide (ETMAH) as an alternative developer solution/process for semiconductor lithography
- 22 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by IOP Publishing in Japanese Journal of Applied Physics
- Vol. 60 (SC), SCCC01
- https://doi.org/10.35848/1347-4065/abe2e4
Abstract
Investigations were made on the application of aqueous ethyltrimethylammonium hydroxide (ETMAH) as an alternative developer solution (compared to the de facto standard aqueous tetramethylammonium hydroxide or TMAH) for mainstream lithographic technologies; extreme ultraviolet (EUV), ArF immersion (ArFi), KrF, and i-line. Results show that for EUV, ETMAH at a specific developer concentration allows mitigation of resist-based stochastic defects while maintaining lithographic performance. It was also found that the ETMAH developer solution is compatible with the ArFi, KrF, and i-line lithography (ultimate resolution and line width roughness was maintained). For EUV, ArFi, and KrF lithography which utilizes chemical amplification resist (CAR) material platforms, sensitivity remained constant. For i-line lithography, sensitivity was observed to decrease by roughly 25%–30% when ETMAH was utilized, attributed to the different dissolution mechanism of the novolac-based resist compared to CAR. Nevertheless, these results show the viability of ETMAH as an alternative developer solution for mainstream semiconductor lithography.Keywords
This publication has 39 references indexed in Scilit:
- Relationship between Defects and Stochastic Effect in Chemically Amplified Resists Used for Extreme Ultraviolet LithographyJapanese Journal of Applied Physics, 2013
- An In situ Analysis of the Dissolution Characteristics of Half Pitch Line and Space Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography Resist PatternsJapanese Journal of Applied Physics, 2013
- Resist Materials and Processes for Extreme Ultraviolet LithographyJapanese Journal of Applied Physics, 2012
- Impact of development chemistry on extreme ultraviolet resist performanceJournal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, 2010
- In situCharacterization of Photoresist DissolutionApplied Physics Express, 2010
- Dissolution Behavior of Photoresists: An In-situ AnalysisJournal of Photopolymer Science and Technology, 2010
- Alternative developer solutions for extreme ultraviolet resistJournal of Vacuum Science & Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures, 2009
- Chemical Amplification Resists for MicrolithographyPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,2005
- Dissolution Kinetics Analysis for Chemically Amplified Deep Ultraviolet ResistJapanese Journal of Applied Physics, 1994
- Novolak structures suitable for high resolution positive photoresists and application.Journal of Photopolymer Science and Technology, 1989