Impact of post-litho LWR smoothing processes on the post-etch patterning result

Philippe Foubert; Alessandro Vaglio Pret; Efrain Altamirano Sanchez; Roel Gronheid

doi:10.1117/12.881433

15 April 2011 Impact of post-litho LWR smoothing processes on the post-etch patterning result

Philippe Foubert, Alessandro Vaglio Pret, Efrain Altamirano Sanchez, Roel Gronheid

Proceedings Volume 7972, Advances in Resist Materials and Processing Technology XXVIII; 797213 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.881433
Event: SPIE Advanced Lithography, 2011, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

In the last years, interest in reducing line width roughness (LWR) in EUV lithography through a dedicated process step has significantly increased. Various post-litho processing techniques to improve LWR without compromising resolution or sensitivity have been proposed. While these techniques are giving smoothing levels up to 30% before etch, the important question is of course how efficient they are in the full patterning process. To evaluate the effectiveness of the smoothing techniques on the EUV resist process and the post-etch pattern, a few of the most promising techniques have been selected for an evaluation. Post-develop rinse smoothing and solvent vapor smoothing can reduce the LWR by 10-15%. Ion-beam smoothing is giving higher smoothing values but suffers some important limitations for its application. Two case studies of post-litho smoothing followed by a standard etch process reveal that a large portion of the LWR smoothing can remain after etch, but the LWR gain may also be completely lost. Finally, a plasma smoothing process combined with a plasma layer deposition is proposed to optimize the etch process itself. Analysis of LWR in the spatial frequency domain at the different stages of the patterning process gives a better insight into the impact of the different steps.

Citation Download Citation

Philippe Foubert, Alessandro Vaglio Pret, Efrain Altamirano Sanchez, and Roel Gronheid "Impact of post-litho LWR smoothing processes on the post-etch patterning result", Proc. SPIE 7972, Advances in Resist Materials and Processing Technology XXVIII, 797213 (15 April 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.881433

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