Process Characterization of Bi-layer Silylation Process for 103-nm Lithography

摘要

We have been evaluating the bi-layer silylation process for 193-nm lithography as one of the top surface imaging (TSI) technologies to improve lithography performance. In this paper, we focus on the effect of process intervals for the bi-layer psoitive-tone silylation process. We found that the effect of the process internal between the post-exposure bake (PEB) and the silylation treatment was remarkable, but the effects of other process intervals were not serious in our evaluation. The critical dimension (CD) of L/S patterns was enlarged by the process internal after the PEB. However, by the application of a the L/S patterns. Moreover, we found that pattern collapses were generated by the effect of corrosion after the dry-developemnt. When we applied an optimized C_2F_6/O_2 plasma treatment as a corrosion prevention treatment, we could obtain fine patterns after the dry-development. We confirmed the high reliablity of this bi-layer silylation process for practical applications.