Understanding Deviations in Lithographic Patterns Near Interfaces: Characterization of Antireflective Coatings (ARC) and the ARC/Resist Interface

Published

October 12, 2021

Author(s)

Joseph~undefined~undefined~undefined~undefined~undefined Lenhart, Daniel A. Fischer, S Sambasivan, Eric K. Lin, Wen-Li Wu, Douglas Guerrero, Yijun Wang, R Puligadda

Abstract

Interactions between a bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC) and a photo-resist can critically impact lithographic patterns. For example, a lithographic pattern can shrink or spread near a BARC interface, a process called undercutting or footing respectively, due to incompatibility between the two materials. Experiments were conducted on two industrial BARC coatings in an effort to determine the impact of BARC surface chemistry on the footing-undercutting phenomena. The BARC coatings were characterized by Near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), contact angle measurements, and neutron and X-ray reflectivity. Contact angle measurement using a variety of fluids showed that the fluid contact angles were independent of the type of BARC coating or the BARC processing temperature. NEXAFS measurements showed that the surface chemistry of each BARC was also independent of the processing temperature. These results suggest that acid-base interactions at the BARC resist interface are not the cause of the footing / undercutting phenomena.

Citation

Applied Surface Science

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

interfaces, Lithography, NEXAFS

Citation

Lenhart, J. , Fischer, D. , Sambasivan, S. , Lin, E. , Wu, W. , Guerrero, D. , Wang, Y. and Puligadda, R. (2021), Understanding Deviations in Lithographic Patterns Near Interfaces: Characterization of Antireflective Coatings (ARC) and the ARC/Resist Interface, Applied Surface Science (Accessed December 21, 2024)