Behavior of Chemically Amplified Resist Defects in TMAH Solution

摘要

As semiconductor design rules become increasingly complex, there is growing demand for a reduction in defects in lithography processes, and the process that contributes most to such defects is believed to be the developing process. The control of defects occurring in chemically amplified resist due to changes in the resist structure has been growing in complexity. Today, when the exposure source is about to undergo a transition from KrF (248 nm) to ArF (193 nm), the controlled objects in defect inspection decrease in size, becoming smaller than the particle size that can be handled by inspection machines. For defect control against the background of the increasing miniaturization anticipated in the future, it will be necessary to gain an understanding of the behavior of ultra micro defects contained in developers. This report concerns the consideration of defect behavior in developing fluid resulting from the quantification of defects occurring due to resist dissolution in the developing fluid, and from defect behavioral analysis performed on the developing fluid.