William D. Hinsberg

Block Copolymer Based Nanostructures: Materials, Processes, and Applications to Electronics

2.4. Block Copolymer Containing Hybrids 151 3. Block Copolymer Ordering in Thin Films 153 3.1. General Process Steps 153 3.2. Morphology of Thin Films 154 3.3. Thickness-Dependent Nanopatterning 154 3.3.1. Ultrathin Films: Monomolecular Films 155 3.3.2. Sub-L0 Thick Films 155 3.3.3. Thick Films 157 3.4. Placement Control: Directed Self-Assembly (DSA) 162 3.4.1. Topographic Guiding Patterns: Graphoepitaxy 163

Liquid immersion deep-ultraviolet interferometric lithography

An apparatus for deep-ultraviolet interferometric lithography is described, in which the interfering beams illuminate the substrate through a fused silica prism and a layer of index-matching liquid. The liquid-immersion technique was found to be compatible with a commercially available, chemically amplified photoresist. The apparatus was used with a 257 nm light source to write gratings having a period of 97 nm and linewidth of approximately 40 nm.

Deep-ultraviolet interferometric lithography as a tool for assessment of chemically amplified photoresist performance

The precise control of the exposure step provided by interferometric photolithography facilitates studies of chemically amplified resist physics, chemistry, and functional properties that are difficult using more conventional exposure techniques. We describe here the design and operating characteristics of a deep-ultraviolet interferometric lithography tool designed specifically for the study of high resolution chemically amplified resists. We provide an example of its use to evaluate resist response to controlled variations in aerial image contrast.

Chemical and physical aspects of the post-exposure baking process used for positive-tone chemically amplified resists

Chemically amplified (CA) resists are in widespread use for the fabrication of leading-edge microelectronic devices, and it is anticipated that they will see use well into the future. The refinement and optimization of these materials to allow routine imaging at dimensions that will ultimately approach the molecular scale will depend on an improved in-depth understanding of the materials and their processing. We provide here an overview of recent work in our laboratory on the chemical and physical processes that occur during post-exposure baking (PEB) of positive-tone CA resists. Our results provide a clearer understanding of how this critical step in the lithographic imaging process will affect extendibility of the CA resist concept to nanoscale feature sizes.

Self-assembly patterning for sub-15nm half-pitch: a transition from lab to fab

Directed self-assembly is an emerging technology that to-date has been primarily driven by research efforts in university and corporate laboratory environments. Through these environments, we have seen many promising demonstrations of forming self-assembled structures with small half pitch (<15 nm), registration control, and various device-oriented shapes. Now, the attention turns to integrating these capabilities into a 300mm pilot fab, which can study directed selfassembly in the context of a semiconductor fabrication environment and equipment set. The primary aim of this study is to create a 300mm baseline process of record using a 12nm half-pitch PS-b-PMMA lamellae block copolymer in order to establish an initial measurement of the defect density due to inherent polymer phase separation defects such as dislocations and disclinations.

Determination of coupled acid catalysis-diffusion processes in a positive-tone chemically amplified photoresist

Acid diffusion during postexposure baking is viewed to be a limiting factor in the extension of lithography using chemically amplified resists to formation of nanoscale features. Quantification of thermally activated reaction-diffusion kinetics in these materials is therefore an important step in understanding the extendability of this class of resist systems. Previous investigations have addressed this issue, however there is poor agreement among them, and too few data exist in the literature to allow the systematics of the effect of polymer, photoacid generator, added base or other resist components on the diffusion process to be understood. We describe in this article a combined experimental and modeling protocol that is designed to elucidate the chemistry and physics of the reaction-diffusion process. Because it is physically based, not phenomenological, it provides a means of developing a set of predictive, mutually comparable data that will allow new insights to be developed into the nanoscale behav...

Effect of resist components on image spreading during postexposure bake of chemically amplified resists

The ultimate feature size achievable using a chemically amplified resist is determined by chemical and physical processes occurring during the post-exposure bake process. Using a combined experimental-modelling procedure we previously have developed a physically accurate, predictive description of coupled deprotection and diffusion in poly(p- tert-butyloxycar-bonyloxystyrene) (PTBOCST) resist containing a diaryliodonium perfluorobutanesulfonate salt as photoacid generator (PAG). In the present work we extend that study to quantify the impact of anion size and of added base on resist reaction diffusion kinetics. Our results show that both short and long range mobility of the PAG anion influence image spreading; the small triflate counterion leads to acid diffusion larger by a factor of 9 - 70 than that observed with the larger perfluoro-butanesulfonate counterion. The addition of tetra-n-butylammonium hydroxide leads to an overall suppression of image spreading in the exposed resist. This effect can be analyzed quantitatively using a proportional neutralization model, which reveals that base addition can lead to an overall sharpening of the developable latent image of deprotection even in the absence of acid diffusion.

Carbon nanotube scanning probe for profiling of deep-ultraviolet and 193 nm photoresist patterns

The continual scaling down of complementary metal–oxide semiconductor feature size to 100 nm and below necessitates a characterization technique to resolve high-aspect-ratio features in the nanoscale regime. We report the use of atomic force microscopy coupled with high-aspect-ratio multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) scanning probe tip for the purpose of imaging surface profile of photoresists. MWCNT tips of 5–10 nm in diameter and about a micron long are used. Their exceptional mechanical strength and ability to buckle reversibly enable resolution of steep, deep nanoscale features. Images of photoresist patterns generated by 257 nm interference lithography as well as 193 nm lithography are presented to demonstrate MWCNT scanning probe tips for applications in metrology.

Extendibility of chemically amplified resists: another brick wall?

The chemically amplified resist concept, first described two decades past and originally targeted for the 1000 nm device generation, has proved to have remarkable versatility. The semiconductor industry has come to rely on the properties of CA resists to achieve high resolution, high aspect ratio imaging accompanied by the high throughput that stems from their catalytic imaging mechanism. As the industry maps the evolution of lithographic technology to the 20 nm regime, it is appropriate to review the factors that control the performance of CA resists, and examine whether the traditional evolutionary path of materials refinement will provide materials capable of supporting device manufacturing at those dimensions. The impacts of image blur, line-edge roughness and shot noise on the ability to image CA resists at nanoscale dimensions will be discussed.

Surface patterns from block copolymer self-assembly

It is widely recognized that further extension of optical lithography to even smaller dimensions will be accompanied by rapid increasing cost and difficulty. There is growing interest in devising alternative patterning methods that will support the evolution of microelectronics to the 10nm length scale. Block copolymer lithography, which uses self-assembled microdomains of block copolymers in thin films, can provide arrays of periodic patterns of 10–50nm length scales with a simple process and low cost. While this capability is attractive, the periodic nature of the microdomain patterns places significant restrictions on how block copolymer lithography can be practically implemented. In this review, the authors survey materials and methods for carrying out the controlled assembly of block copolymers in thin films for surface patterning applications. After a brief introduction to block copolymers and their phase behavior, the authors discuss ordering of block copolymer in thin films based on four different...