Comparing positive and negative tone development process for printing the metal and contact layers of the 32- and 22-nm nodes

Joost P. M. Bekaert; Lieve Van Look; Vincent P. Truffert; Frederic Lazzarino; Geert Vandenberghe; Mario Reybrouck; Shinji Tarutani

doi:10.1117/1.3524829

1 October 2010 Comparing positive and negative tone development process for printing the metal and contact layers of the 32- and 22-nm nodes

Joost P. M. Bekaert, Lieve Van Look, Vincent P. Truffert, Frederic Lazzarino, Geert Vandenberghe, Mario Reybrouck, Shinji Tarutani

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS, Vol. 9, Issue 4, 043007 (October 2010). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3524829

Abstract

A strong demand exists for techniques that extend application of ArF immersion lithography. Besides techniques such as litho-friendly design, dual exposure/patterning schemes, customized illumination, alternative processing schemes are also viable candidates. One of the most promising alternative flows uses image reversal by means of a negative tone development (NTD) step with a Fujifilm solvent-based developer. Traditionally, contact and trench printing uses a dark-field mask in combination with positive tone resist and positive tone development. With NTD, the same features are printed in positive resist using light-field masks, and consequently with better image contrast. We present an overview of NTD applications, comparing the NTD performance to that of the traditional development. Experimental work is performed at a 1.35 numerical aperture, targeting the contact/metal layers of the 32- and 22-nm nodes. For contact printing, we consider both single- and dual-exposure schemes for regular arrays and 2-D patterns. For trench printing, we study 1-D, line end, and 2-D patterns. We also assess the etch capability and critical dimension uniformity performance of the NTD process. We proves the added value of NTD. It enables us to achieve a broader pitch range and/or smaller litho targets, which makes NTD attractive for the most advanced lithography applications, including double patterning.

©(2010) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

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Joost P. M. Bekaert, Lieve Van Look, Vincent P. Truffert, Frederic Lazzarino, Geert Vandenberghe, Mario Reybrouck, and Shinji Tarutani "Comparing positive and negative tone development process for printing the metal and contact layers of the 32- and 22-nm nodes," Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS 9(4), 043007 (1 October 2010). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3524829

Published: 1 October 2010

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