Line edge and width roughness smoothing by plasma treatment

Peter De Schepper; Terje Hansen; Efrain Altamirano-Sanchez; Alessandro V. Pret; Ziad el Otell; Werner Boulart; Stefan De Gendt

doi:10.1117/1.JMM.13.2.023006

19 May 2014 Line edge and width roughness smoothing by plasma treatment

Peter De Schepper, Terje Hansen, Efrain Altamirano-Sanchez, Alessandro V. Pret, Ziad el Otell, Werner Boulart, Stefan De Gendt

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS, Vol. 13, Issue 2, 023006 (May 2014). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JMM.13.2.023006

Abstract

Smoothing effects of postlithography plasma treatments on 22-nm lines and spaces are evaluated for two types of extreme ultraviolet photoresists, using five different plasma processes (Ar, H ₂ /Ar , HBr, H ₂ /N ₂ , and H ₂ ). Experimental results indicate a reduction in linewidth roughness of about 10% by using an H ₂ plasma smoothing process. This smoothing process is mainly triggered by the synergy of vacuum ultraviolet photons and H₂ reactive species during the plasma treatment. Moreover, the smoothing process is dependent on the resist composition and the pattern dimensions. This paper shows the impact of different plasma conditions on roughness reduction for 22-nm lines.

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Peter De Schepper, Terje Hansen, Efrain Altamirano-Sanchez, Alessandro V. Pret, Ziad el Otell, Werner Boulart, and Stefan De Gendt "Line edge and width roughness smoothing by plasma treatment," Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS 13(2), 023006 (19 May 2014). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JMM.13.2.023006

Published: 19 May 2014

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