Adhesion and collapse of extreme ultraviolet photoresists and the role of underlayers

Abstract

Pattern collapse and photoresist scumming are major limiting factors to achieve a failure-free process window in extreme ultraviolet lithography. Previous works on this topic have empirically proven the importance of matching photoresist and underlayer surface energy, and the role played by developer liquid in wet development. In this work, we extend those concepts and formulate a figure of merit for the free energy at the exposed and unexposed photoresist-underlayer-developer interfaces. This figure of merit provides a tool to optimize the underlayer surface energy components that best match a given photoresist and developer process. The model is tested against experimental patterning of a chemically amplified resist at pitch 32 nm and pitch 80-nm line spaces, successfully predicting the likelihood of pattern collapse and photoresist scumming. Moreover, we write a quantitative expression for the peeling force acting on photoresist lines owing to unbalanced capillary forces and the threshold energy at which film delamination onsets. It is shown that adhesion and scumming are two manifestations of the same phenomenon at these interfaces. (C) 2022 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)