Exploring the readiness of EUV photo materials for patterning advanced technology nodes

Danilo De Simone; Yannick Vesters; Atif Shehzad; Geert Vandenberghe; Philippe Foubert; Christophe Beral; Dieter Van Den Heuvel; Ming Mao; Fred Lazzarino

doi:10.1117/12.2258220

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24 March 2017 Exploring the readiness of EUV photo materials for patterning advanced technology nodes

Danilo De Simone, Yannick Vesters, Atif Shehzad, Geert Vandenberghe, Philippe Foubert, Christophe Beral, Dieter Van Den Heuvel, Ming Mao, Fred Lazzarino

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Proceedings Volume 10143, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography VIII; 101430R (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2258220
Event: SPIE Advanced Lithography, 2017, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

Imec is currently driving the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photo material development within the imec material and equipment supplier hub. EUV baseline processes using the ASML NXE3300 full field scanner have been setup for the critical layers of the imec N7 (iN7) BEOL process modules with a resist sensitivity of 35mJ/cm², 40mJ/cm² and 60mJ/cm² for metal, block and vias layer, respectively. A feasibility study on higher sensitivity resists for HVM has been recently conducted looking at 16nm dense line-space at a targeted exposure dose of 20mJ/cm². Such a study reveals that photoresist formulations with a cost-effective resist sensitivity are feasible today. Moreover, recent advances in enhanced underlayers are further offering novel development opportunities to increase the resist sensitivity. However, line width roughness (LWR) and pattern defectivity at nano scale are the major limiting factors of the lithographic process window and further efforts are needed to reach a HVM maturity level. We will present the results of the photo material screening and we examine in detail the lithography patterning results for the best performing photoresists. We further discuss the fundamental aspects of photo materials from a light-matter interaction standpoint looking at the photo emission yield at the EUV light for different photo materials towards a better understanding of the relation between photon efficiency and patterning performance. Finally, as metal containing resists are becoming part of the EUV material landscape, we also review the manufacturing aspects of a such class of resists looking at metal cross contamination pattern and defectivity on the process equipment.

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Danilo De Simone, Yannick Vesters, Atif Shehzad, Geert Vandenberghe, Philippe Foubert, Christophe Beral, Dieter Van Den Heuvel, Ming Mao, and Fred Lazzarino "Exploring the readiness of EUV photo materials for patterning advanced technology nodes", Proc. SPIE 10143, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography VIII, 101430R (24 March 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2258220

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