Chemically Amplified Photoresists for 193-Nm Photolithography: Effect ofMolecular Structure and Photonic Parameters on Photopatterning

摘要

Next generations of microelectronic devices requestfurther miniaturized systems. In this context, photolithography is a key step and many efforts have been paid to develop newirradiation setup and materials compatible with sub-100 nm resolution.Among other resist platforms, chemically amplifiedphotoresists (CAR) are widely used because of their excellentproperties in terms of resolution, sensitivity, and etching resistance.However, low information on the impact of the polymerstructure on the lithography performance is available. CARwith well-controlled polymer structures were thus preparedand investigated. In particular, the impact of the polymer structureon the lithographic performance was evaluated. Linear and branched polymers with various molecular weights andpolydispersities were compared. We focused on the dependency of the photosensitivity of the resist with the structuralparameters. These results allow further understanding the fundamentalphenomena involved by 193-nm irradiation. VC 2010Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48:1271–1277, 2010