Influence of resist blur on ultimate resolution of ArF immersion lithography

Tokuyuki Honda; Yasuhiro Kishikawa; Yuichi Iwasaki; Akinori Ohkubo; Miyoko Kawashima; Minoru Yoshii

doi:10.1117/1.2397018

1 October 2006 Influence of resist blur on ultimate resolution of ArF immersion lithography

Tokuyuki Honda, Yasuhiro Kishikawa, Yuichi Iwasaki, Akinori Ohkubo, Miyoko Kawashima, Minoru Yoshii

Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS, Vol. 5, Issue 4, 043004 (October 2006). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2397018

Abstract

The chemical amplification provides high sensitivity of resists for deep-uv and extreme-uv (EUV) lithography. On the other hand, the chemical amplification involves photoacid diffusion that causes contrast degradation of the latent image or, in other words, resist blur. We study the influence of the resist blur in high–numerical aperture ArF immersion lithography by using an interferometric exposure tool. The contrast ratio between the resist latent image and the original aerial image was measured for half pitches from 45 to 80 nm. Acid diffusion length for a high-resolution ArF resist was determined as 11 nm in sigma (26 nm in full width at half maximum) assuming a Gaussian blur kernel. The results revealed that the influence of the resist blur is a significant issue for the 45-nm half-pitch node. The reduction of acid diffusion length is highly desirable. Given the tradeoff between the resist resolution and sensitivity, increasing illumination intensity in exposure tools can be an effective means to overcome the challenge of the resist blur. We also demonstrate resist imaging of 30-nm line-and-space pattern with a high-index fluid. While our focus is on ArF immersion lithography, our findings are also relevant to EUV lithography.

©(2006) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Citation Download Citation

Tokuyuki Honda, Yasuhiro Kishikawa, Yuichi Iwasaki, Akinori Ohkubo, Miyoko Kawashima, and Minoru Yoshii "Influence of resist blur on ultimate resolution of ArF immersion lithography," Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS 5(4), 043004 (1 October 2006). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2397018

Published: 1 October 2006

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