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The Mechanism Of The Desire

Process

Roland, B., Lombaerts, R., Jakus, C., Coopmans, F.

B. Roland, R. Lombaerts, C. Jakus, F. Coopmans, "The Mechanism Of The

Desire Process," Proc. SPIE 0771, Advances in Resist Technology and
Processing IV, (25 August 1987); doi: 10.1117/12.940310

Event: Microlithography Conferences, 1987, Santa Clara, CA, United States

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 THE MECHANISM
MECHANISM OF
OF THE DESIRE
DESIRE PROCESS
PROCESS
B.ROLAND, R.LOMBAERTS, C.JAKUS
B.ROLAND, R.LOMBAERTS, C.JAKUS and
and F.COOPMANS°
F.COOPMANS 0

UCB N.V.,
UCB N.V., Anderlechtstraat 33,
33, B-1620
B -1620 Drogenbos
Drogenbos Belgium

°IMEC vzw., Kapeldreef

°IMEC vzw., Kapeldreef 75,
75, B-3030
B -3030 Heverlee
Heverlee Belgium

ABSTRACT
Multilayer
Multilayer resist
resist techniques
techniques have
have been
been studied
studied for
for several
several years
years already.
already. Especially
with the trilayer systems very good
very good results
results can
can be
be obtained,
obtained, but
but only
only at
at the
the expense
expense of
of
added complexity. Their complexity has caused some reluctance to implement these
techniques into IC
into 1C manufacturing lines.
lines. Using the
Using the PLASMASK resist
resist inin the
the so
so called
called DESIRE
DESIRE
process,
process, even better performance can
even better can be
be obtained,
obtained, without any of the disadvantages of
multilayer techniques. The process is based on a silylation which results results from
from the
the
selective diffusion of
selective diffusion of aa silylating
silylating agent
agent into
into the
the resist
resist matrix.
matrix. The basic
The basic chemistry
chemistry that
that
enables this
enables this differentiation in in diffusion
diffusion isis discussed,
discussed, as
as well
well as
as the
the principle
principle advantages
advantages
of the
of the diffusion
diffusion-controlled process.
-controlled process.

1. Background
1. Background

One way
One way of
of solving
solving most
most of
of the
the problems
problems that
that are encountered in optical submicron
lithography is by
is by so
so called
called multilayer
multilayer resist
resist techniques.
techniques. Best results have
Best have been'obtained
been' obtained
using the
using the trilayer
trilayer resist schemes
schemes that
that were
were first
first introduced
introduced by
by Havas
Havas 1 inin 1973,
1973, and many '

modifications have been reported since 2 "-4.

2 H. With these
these techniques,
techniques, the
the high
high thermal
thermal
stability
stability and
and etch resistance of of aa hard
hard baked
baked planarizing
planarizing layer
layer can
can be
be combined with the
high resolution of a thin resist
resist layer onon aa semi
semi-planar
-planar subtrate
subtrate using
using an
an intermediate
layer that serves
layer that serves asas an
an etch
etch barrier
barrier during
during the
the drydry transfer of the patterns into the
planarizing layer. By incorporating dyes in the planarizing layer 5 ,
s
or in the
intermediate layer,
intermediate layer, most
most of
of the
the refllection
ref'lection problems
problems can can be resolved, resulting in good
linewidth control
linewidth control even on on difficult
difficult substrates.
substrates.
Unfortunately, multilayer
Unfortunately, multilayer techniques,
techniques, and
and trilayer
trilayer versions
versions in
in particular,
particular, have some
disadvantages too. problem is
Their major problem is complexity.
complexity. layers have
Several layers have toto be
be coated
coated
and baked, exposed
and baked, exposed and
and/or
/or developed, each step
developed, each step introducing aa number of defects. This
consideration makes
consideration makes multilayer techniques
techniques unattractive
unattractive for for large
large scale
scale production.
production.

In addition,
In addition, problems like the formation of intermixing layers may occur when
different materials are coated on top of each other other and baked. Hard bake
and baked. bake steps
steps may
may
somewhat reduce
somewhat this phenomenon,
reduce this but even
phenomenon, but even then,
then, additional treatments may
additional treatments may be required to
remove these layers before pattern
before pattern transfer.
transfer. Baking may
Baking may also
also introduce
introduce film
film stress
stress that
that
can
can sometimes
sometimes result
result in
in cracks.
cracks.

Also,
Also, thethe thin
thin top
top resist layers
layers which
which are
are used
used in multilayer systems to increase
resolution make the system more susceptible to to pinhole problems.
problems. Finally, applying
Finally, applying aa
uniform
uniform thin
thin coating
coating of
of resist
resist as
as top
top layer
layer is
is not
not an
an easy
easy task.
task. Since this
Since this resist layer
is wet developed, non-uniformity
non -uniformity in coating thickness will result in non-uniform
non -uniform
1inewi dths .
linewidths.

In order
In order to
to reduce
reduce the
the complexity
complexity ofof these
these system, simpler alternatives have been
developed. One such process is
process is the
the RIE
RIE/bilayer
/bilayer resist
resist scheme
scheme 66"11,
~ ll t which uses
uses aa silicon
silicon
containing resist
containing resist as
as top
top imaging
imaging layer.
layer. This top
This top layer
layer is
is exposed andand wet
wet developed.
developed. The
patterns, containing a a certain
certain amount
amount of
of silicon, will form
silicon, will form a
a protecting
protecting layer
layer of
of silicon
silicon
dioxide during
dioxide during the
the pattern transfer
transfer in
in an
an oxygen
oxygen RIE.
RIE. In this way,
In this way, the intermediate
intermediate layer
could be
be omitted. However
However it
it appears
appears to
to be
be rather
rather difficult
difficult to
to include
include sufficient
sufficient silicon
silicon
to assure
to assure proper
proper resistance towards an
resistance towards an oxygen
oxygen plasma
plasma without
without deterioration
deterioration of of the
the physical
properties of the
the resist. Typical problems
Typical problems include thermal flow,
include thermal flow, solubility
solubility problems
problems and
and
difficulties with
difficulties with development.
development.

2.
2. The
The DESIRE Process
DESIRE Process
A
A further simplification
simplification of
of the
the trilayer
trilayer process
process is
is obtained by reducing it to aa
single layer
single layer resist
resist process:
process: the DESIRE
the DESIRE process
process 1212 using the
the PLASMASK
PLASMASK resist.
resist. In addition
In
to aa reduction
to reduction of
of complexity
complexity it
it also overcomes the
also overcomes the typical problems of
typical problems of the
the above
above mentioned
RIE/bilayer
RIE /bilayer system.
Instead of
Instead of adding
adding silicon
silicon to
to the resist material,
the resist material, silicon
silicon is
is selectively
selectively incorporated
from the gas phasephase into
into the
the exposed
exposed areas
areas after
after coating
coating and
and exposure
exposure of
of the
the resist.
resist. The

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ResistTechnology
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(1987) / / 69
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 selective silylation
selective silylation will
will result in aa dramatic
result in decrease in
dramatic decrease etch rate
in etch of the
rate of areas.
exposed areas.
the exposed

The
The complete
complete process
process flow
flow is shown in
is shown figure
in figure
1. One single layer
layer of resist is
PLASMASK resist
the PLASMASK
of the is
spincoated on
spincoated on the
the substrate (1a) prebaked to
and prebaked
(1a) and
a self-planarizing
self -planarizing layer. Typical resist
MASK
thickness ranges
thickness ranges from to 2.5
1.5 to
from 1.5 depending on
ym depending
2.5 pm on
the substrate. Even for very
Even for coatings, no
thick coatings,
very thick no
observed.
cracking was observed.
cracking Prebake
Prebake is carried out
is carried on
out on
D PLASMASK a hot-plate
a hot -plate at temperatures
at temperatures of 110 °C
to 110
90 to
of 90 for
°C for
30 to 60 seconds, depending on the resist
® SUBSTRATE thickness. After patternwise exposure (lb) on
(1b) on
standard exposure equipment, the wafers are
EXPOSURE treated with
with aa vapourized silylating (e.g.
agent (e.g.
silylating agent
HMDS). This silylation is carried out at
at
U U U U Ul D EXPOSED
EXPOSED
elevated temperature
silylation time.
in
As
order
aa
to reduce the
result of
of the
i photochemical modifications
modifications of of the during
resist during
the resist
exposure, the exposed areas are selectively
SILSLATION silylated (1c), in such aa way way that silicon is
that silicon is
into the
incorporated into
incorporated 100 -
top 100
the top - 250 nm of these
250 nm
SLYLATED
gBSILYLATED
exposed parts. The incorporated silicon is is
chemically bound to the resin so that the
lc silylated wafers remain stable stable for time
long time
for aa long
after silylation.
after silylation. In the
In last step the wafers
the last
PLASMA DEVELOPMENT
are developed in an
in plasma.
an oxygen plasma. this
During this
plasma
plasma treatment,
treatment, the silicon is
the silicon is converted into
silicon dioxide which forms aa thin thin protective
mask that
mask that stops
stops etching
etching in the exposed areas.
The unexposed parts do not
do not contain silicon and
contain silicon
are removed during the development (1d).
Vertical resist profiles are obtained when when aa
anisotropic plasma is used for the dry
FIGURE
FIGURE 1:
1: The
The DESIRE Process development .
development.

From Auger 1313, RBS and

, RBS and SIMS
SIMS 1"l lt experiments
experiments it was shown that
it was the incorporation of of
silicon is indeed
indeed limited to shallow top
to aa shallow the resist
of the
part of
top part layer.
resist layer. This the
that the
This means that
light does
light does not
not need
need to
to penetrate to the
penetrate to substrate during
the substrate exposure.
during exposure. It
It isis thus possible to
thus possible to
make the resist highly absorbant so that reflection
so that reflection of from the
of light from the substrate be
can be
substrate can
suppressed, which
suppressed, which will
will avoid standing wave
avoid standing and reflective
effects and
wave effects notching on topography.
reflective notching
In wet developed
standard wet developed resists
resists this would be
this would since the
impossible since
be impossible development
complete development
the complete
of these
of these resists
resists relies
relies on
on the
the exposure
exposure of the entire
of the thickness of the resist, and aa
significant increase in the absorbance of of the resist
resist will invariabely result
will invariabely more
in more
result in
pronounced sloping
pronounced sloping ofof the
the resist sidewalls.
resist sidewalls. This is not
This is the case
not the for the
case for PLASMASK resist.
the PLASMASK
The latent image in
image the top
in the top part
part of of the resist is
the resist transferred vertically
is transferred into the
vertically into bulk of
the bulk of
the resist
the resist during
during the
the dry
dry development step, without
development step, any need
without any exposing the
of exposing
need of lower part
the lower part ofof
the
the resist.
Moreover, since
Moreover, since the
the exposure
exposure takes in aa thin top layer
place in
takes place of aa planarized resist
coating, depth of focus requirements can relaxed.
be relaxed.
can be This is especially important
This is when
important when
using
using stepper
stepper lenses with
with high
high numerical aperture.
numerical aperture.

3. The
3. The diffusion
diffusion controlled process

Selective
Selective silylation from
from the
the vapour
vapour phase can,
phase can, in principle, be achieved in
in two
two
ways .
different ways.

AA first
first possibility
possibility isis the
the creation the destruction
O r the
15 » 16 or
creation 15,16 destruction 17 of functional groups
17 of
capable of reacting with the silylating agent. agent. The
The silylating agent diffuses into
agent diffuses the
into the
polymer layer
polymer layer inin both
both exposed and unexposed areas
and unexposed but is
areas but only bound
is only in those
bound in areas were
those areas the
were the
functionality has been created or not been destroyed. In the case
case of creation of
of creation of
functionality, it
functionality, it is
is important
important that
that aa sufficient amount of
sufficient amount functional groups
of functional groups is created so
is created
that enough
that enough silicon is is built in to
built in obtain aa good
to obtain differentiation ininetch.
good differentiation rate.
etch. rate. the case
In the
In
of destruction
of destruction of of functionality it particularly important
is particularly
it is reaction is
the reaction
that the
important that complete,
is complete,
or atat least
least as
as complete
complete as
as possible
possible in order to
in order to avoid incorporation of
avoid incorporation silicon in
of silicon unwanted
in unwanted
areas .
Another approach
Another approach isis to
to create
create a a differention
differention in diffusion of
in diffusion the silylating
of the into
agent into
silylating agent
a polymer that already has aa highhigh concentration of of functional groups.
functional groups. By
By enabling thethe
diffusion upon
diffusion exposure, the
upon exposure, the silylating
silylating agent
agent will
will penetrate selectively into
penetrate selectively these areas,
into these
and will then react with the functional groups that were already
already present from the
from the
beginning. It is
It is on
on this
this principle that the
principle that process is
DESIRE process
the DESIRE based. DESIRE is
is based. short for
is short
Diffusion Enhanced
Diffusion Enhanced Sllylating REsist.
Silylating REsist.

70 / SPIE
/ SPIEVol.
Vol.771
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ResistTechnology
AdvancesininResist Processing IV (1987)
and Processing (1987)

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 The two
The methods are
two methods are demonstrated
demonstrated in
in figure
figure 2a and 2b
2a and for
2b for the functionality and the
the
diffusion
diffusion control
control respectively.
respectively.

A
RESIN
RR == RESIN
R

A PHOTOACTIVE
A= °HOTGACTIVE
COMPOUND
CLWPOUND

R
A

R P-H=wo-oPROCPET
P-H=PHOTOPRODUCT
A R

-LI_4V -E IT F.=I _R _114L

R X A R
o-
= SILYLP.TN6
EN"

F_- F OIT- R-H

FIGURE 2a:
2a: Funcionality
Functionality principle
principle FIGURE 21):
FIGURE Diffusion principle
2b: Diffusion

There
Thereareare
two basic
two advantages of the diffusionofcontrolled
basic advantages process over controlled process over the
the diffusion the functionality
controlled process. One
One isis that
that the concentration of
the concentration of functional groups can
functional groups determined
be determined
can be
at will,
at will, and
and isis independent
independent of of the
the photochemical process.
photochemical process. The second is
The that
is that aa two-step
two -step
development can be applied. In this way, contrast
way, contrast enhancement obtained 18
be obtained
can be
enhancement can and
18 and
residue formation,
residue formation, asas aa result
result of of incorporation
incorporation of of small of
amounts of
small amounts silicon in in unexposed
unexposed
areas, can be avoided. The principle of
The of the -step development,
two-step
the two and why it
development, and works
only works
it only
for
for the
the diffusion
diffusion controlled process, is
controlled process, schematically in
shown schematically
is shown 3.
figure 3.
in figure

MASK
MASK
Inc

INTENSITY
INTENSITY
INTENSITY
INTENSI,
FUNCTION
FUNCTION
,UN7ICN

AREAS
SLYLATED AREAS
SLY.ATED v

EXPOSEE AND SLYLATEU

_____EXPOSED AND SILYLATED
EXPOSED AND S,_YLA'ED

5'EP '
SEP
THN TO? LAYER REMOVE'
THIN
THN 'CP REMOVED
LAYERREMOVED
T OP ,AY;R Í

STEP 2
7=7

FIGURE 3a:
3a: Two -step development
Two-stop development after functionality
functionality FIGURE 3b:
FIGURE 3b: Two -step development
Two-step development after
after diffusion
diffusion
controlled silylation
controlled silylatioii controlled Silylation
controlled silylatioii

SPIE Vol. 771

SPIE Vol. 771 Advances
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IV (1987)
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 One problem
One problem that may sometimes
that may occur is
sometimes occur formation of
the formation
is the residues ("grass").
of residues ( "grass "). This is
This is
due to
due to some
some silylation
silylation in areas.
in unexposed areas. As a
As result of
a result of relatively low exposure
relatively low contrast
exposure contrast
when
when small
small features
features areare printed,
printed, some exposure always takes
some exposure place in
in unexposed areas.
unexposed areas.
Consequently a small amount
amount ofof silicon may be incorporated into
be incorporated into these areas.
these areas. One way to
One way to
avoid this
avoid this isis by
by choosing conditions for
optimum conditions
choosing optimum for silylation and dry
silylation and development. When
dry development. When thethe
incorporation of silicon is is controlled
controlled by diffusion, rather than
by diffusion, reactivity, not
by reactivity,
than by only
not only
will
will the concentration of
the concentration silicon be
of silicon low in
very low
be very in these areas, but
unexposed areas,
these unexposed but also the depth
also the depth
of penetration will will be
be limited
limited toto the surface.
the surface. Indeed, as was
Indeed, as from SIMS,
seen from
was seen SIMS, RBS 14 and
RBS 'hand
AUGER 13,
AUGER depth of
13, depth depends on
of penetration depends on exposure dose.
exposure dose. While
While inin regularly exposedexposed areas
areas
silicon is incorporated depth of
to aa depth to 300
up to
of up the slight
nm, the
300 nm, slight exposure resulting from
exposure resulting from
diffraction in
diffraction in the
the unexposed areas causes
unexposed areas only in
silylation only
causes silylation in aa very thin top
very thin layer.
top layer. This
This
gives us the opportunity to remove this
this thin layer non-selective
with aa non
layer with process.
-selective process. The
The
easiest way
easiest way of
of doing
doing this
this is by using
is by two-step
using aa two process.
-step development process. In
In first short
aa first short
step a plasma with oxygen combined with a a fluorinated gas (e.g.
gas (e.g. 2 F 6» CFI,
CC2F6, SFg,...)
CF 4» SF6,...)
removes
removes the
the thin
thin layer
layer containing some silicon in
some silicon in the areas.
unexposed areas.
the unexposed In the
In second 'step
the second step
pure oxygen is used to remove the selectively.
areas selectively.
the unexposed areas The
The entire concept is
entire concept is
illustrated in
illustrated in figure
figure 3.
3. It
It can
can be seen that
be seen this principle
that this works when
only works
principle only silylation is
when silylation is
controlled by
controlled by diffusion.

it can
From figure 33 it
From can also
also be that, when
seen that,
be seen using such
when using such aa two-step development for
two-step development the
for the
diffusion controlled process, contrast be
can be
enhancement can
contrast enhancement expected.
expected. When the upper
thin upper
the thin
layer is
layer is removed,
removed, the
the frontier between exposed
frontier between and unexposed
exposed and unexposed resist
resist is defined by
is defined by aa much
much
steeper silicon
steeper profile.
silicon profile.

That contrast
That contrast enhancement does occur
enhancement does in a
occur in two step
a two process is
step process demonstrated
is demonstrated in
in figure
figure
4. Here
Here itit can
can be
be seen
seen that by simply
that by the C2F6
raising the
simply raising -flow in
C 2 F 6 ~flow first development
the first
in the development stepstep
from 00 to
from to 55 seem
sccm the
the contrast is from 2.4
increased from
is increased 5.6!
to 5.6!
2.H to The increase in
The increase in contrast is
contrast is
also reflected in the processing latitude of the system. Figure
of the shows the
5 shows
Figure 5 exposure
the exposure
latitude as a function
as a of the
function of ~flow.
C 2 F 6-flow.
the C2F6 It can
It seen that
be seen
can be that by carrying out
by carrying out two-step
aa two -step
process, aa much
process, latitude is
broader latitude
much broader obtained.
is obtained.

100 30
3.0

W 80 -
2.5 --
Vl

ú 60 _ y =5.6 E
v 2.0 +

áN 40 C2 F6 - flow: T3 - flow:
C2 F6 - flow:
*
cu seem
E CD 0.0 sccm
0.0
Z 20 - 0.0 scan O 1.2 seem
1.2 stem
O 2.5 scan -f-
I 2.5 seem
2.5 scan
<> 5.0 sccm O 5.0 seem
5.0 scan
! t ! i.o
1.0 —h-
0
14 1.6 1.8 LO
2.0 2.2 2.14 2.6 0 200
200 400
400 600
600 800
800 1000
log dose
dose Exposure dose (msec)
Exposure (msec)

FIGUR 4:4:Iufluenre
FIGURE InfluenceofofC2F6
C L,F 6 flow
now on
011 FIGURE
FIGURE 5:
5: Influence
Influenceof
ofC3Fc
C 2 F« flow
flow on
ou
contrast of the Plasinask
contrast Plasmask resist
resist exposure
exposure latitude

Since
Since during
during this
this first
first step,
step, some silicon is
some silicon also from
removed also
is removed the
the areas,
exposed areas,
sensitivity will drop a little bit. However this can
However this be overcome
easily be
can easily increasing
by increasing
overcome by
either silylation
either silylation time
time or temperature.
silylation temperature.
or silylation

4.
4. The
The chemistry
chemistry of
of the
the PLASMASK
PLASMASK resist
resist

AA first requirement for the system is aa polymer material carrying sufficient

functional
functional groups
groups to
to react with the
react with agent.
silylating agent.
the silylating Good
Good candidates are resins.
phenolic resins.
are phenolic
These polymers
These polymers are well known,
are well known, and
and have
have a high concentration
a high of reactive
concentration of groups.
OH groups.
reactive OH

An imagewise
An imagewise change
change in
in permeability these resins
of these
permeability of can be
resins can obtained by
be obtained means,
several means,
by several
such as gas formation, ring contraction, rearrangements, changes in Tg and
in Tg polarity,
and polarity,
formation
formation or
or rupture of intermolecular interactions,
of intermolecular crosslink ing ,
interactions, crosslinking, depolymerisat ion,
depolymerisation, etc.
etc.
For our system diazoquinones have
have been 19 because they
chosen 19
been chosen many of
combine many
they combine above
the above
of the

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 changes.
mentioned changes. In
In addition,
addition, diazoquinones
diazoquinones have
have the property of
remarkable property
the remarkable the
blocking the
of blocking
diffusion of the
of the silylating agent
agent into
into the
the phenolic resin.
phenolic resin. This property disappears
This again
disappears again
after
after photochemical
photochemical destruction of of the
the diazoquinone, resulting in
diazoquinone, resulting a dramatic
in a increase in
diffusion rate. This
This effect
effect isis illustrated
illustrated in figure 6.
in figure 6. In
In this
this graph
graph the
the relative etch
relative etch
rate
rate of
of silylated
silylated resist (Vr= etch
resist (Vr= rate unsilylated
etch rate rate
/etch rate
resist /etch
unsilylated resist silylated resist) is
resist) is
shown as a function of
as a of the temperature.
silylation temperature.
the silylation It
It can
can be seen
seen that the phenolic
that the resin
phenolic resin
without
without diazoquinone
diazoquinone starts permeating the
starts permeating silylating agent
the silylating at only 90°C,
90 °C, while after
addition of diazoquinone, no silylation takes
no silylation 150°C.
place upuptoto150
takes place °C. After exposure however,
exposure however,
this curve
this curve is
is shifted
shifted back
back again.
again. This means
This means that
that when aa temperature
temperature is chosen for the
silylation aa little bit below the temperature at at which
which silylation takestakes place
place in the
in the
unexposed resist,
unexposed resist, good
good selectivity
selectivity between
between exposed and unexposed
exposed and unexposed areas
areas is obtained.
is obtained.

20-
20

Plionulic rosin
\) Phenolic resin

Pleenulic resin
I_I Phenolic resin +
+ diazoelninone
diazoquiiione (unexposed)
(uiiexposed)

PLenolic resi
vj Phenolic diazueluinone (ex
resin -f diazoquiiione p used )
(exposed)

80 100
100 120
120 140
140 160
Silylation temperature ( (°C)
Silylation temperature °C)
FIGURE G: Influence of
G: Influence of exposed
exposed and
and unexposed
unexposed diazoquiiione
diazoquinone on
ou incorporation
incorporation
of silicon
of into uovolac
silicon into iiovolac resin
res in

After diffusion, the

After diffusion, the silylating is chemically
agent is
silylating agent bound to
chemically bound to the resin. This
phenolic resin.
the phenolic
was shown by two
two experiments. In aa first
In test, the
first test, wafers were given
the wafers vacuum
prolonged vacuum
given aa prolonged
bake immediately
bake immediately after
after silylation.
silylation. If the silylating agent
If the was simply absorbed and not
agent was
chemically bound, at
at least
least a a reduction
reduction inin silicon should be
concentration should
silicon concentration which
observed, which
be observed,
was
was not
not the
the case.
case. Also Fourier Transform
Transform Infrared experiments carried out by Philips
Research Laboratories 14 * "* show the infrared band
typical infrared
the typical forthe
band for <--->
aryl< -
thearyl --> OSi bond.
OS i bond. This
means
means that
that the
the silylating
silylating agentagent does
does indeed
indeed react
react with
with the
the phenolic
phenolic hydroxyl groups of
hydroxyl groups of the
resin:

Me Me
Me Me Me Me
Si ,5i
Ó Ó
CHZ

The exact
The exact mechanism of the
mechanism of permeability caused by exposed 'and
in permeability
change in
the change and unexposed
diazoquinone still not
is still understood, but
not completely understood, experiments, including
further experiments,
but further tests
including tests
with model
with model compounds
compounds are being carried
are being out.
carried out.

SPIE Vol.
Vol. 771
771 Advances
Advances in
in Resist
Resist Technology
Technology and
and Processing IV(1987)
ProcessingIV (1987)// 73

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 5. Processing
5. Processing

Coating, prebake
Coating, prebake and
and exposure
exposure ofof the Plasmask resists
the Plasmask can be
resists can carried out
be carried out in in the same
way as conventional resists. Prebake temperature isis usually between 90
usually between 90 and 100°C,
and100 but
°C, but
higher temperatures
higher can be
temperatures can well.
as well.
used as
be used As can
As figure 7,
from figure
be seen from
can be 7, line widths are
line widths not
are not
strongly affected by the prebake temperature. Less
Less than 1 5% decrease in
than 15% in linewidth is
linewidth is
observed for aa 2
observed 2 pm
ym line
line when
when prebake is increased
temperature is
prebake temperature 1 140°C!
from 7070 toto140
increased from °C!

2.4

i2.0
*
c

1.6

70
70 90
90 110
110 130
130
temperature( (°C)
Prebake temperature °C)
FIGURE 7:
7: Process
Process latitude
latitude for
for prebake
prebake

Exposure
Exposure can
can be
be carried
carried out
out on
on standard
standard exposure equipment.
exposure equipment. Depending exposure
the exposure
Depending on the
wavelength, aa different dye is
different dye added to
is added resist, one
to resist, for g-
one for and h h-line,
g- and -line, another for i-line.
another for i -line.
Latitude of
Latitude of the
the process
process against
against exposure dose has
exposure dose already been
has already shown in
been shown 5.
figure 5.
in figure

Silylation
Silylation isis carried at elevated
out at
carried out temperature.
elevated temperature. Typically, temperatures between
1^0
140 and 160°C
160 °C are used.
being used. The required
The time depends
required sylilation time upon exposure
depends upon dose,
exposure dose,
silylation temperature and
silylation temperature and HMDS
HMDS concentration. this
concentration. When this concentration is high enough,
silylation time can
can be
be less 1 vapour-prime
available vapour
than 1 minute. Commercially available
less than equipment
-prime equipment
can be applied
can be applied for
for the
the silylation,
silylation, but
but in
in some
some cases
cases some
some minor modifications have to be
minor modifications
made .
made.

Latitude of
Latitude of the
the system
system towards
towards silylation
silylation time shown in
is shown
time is 8.
figure 8.
in figure Here only 20%
change in
change linewidth is
in linewidth is noticed when
when the
the silylation
silylation time is increased
time is from 22 to
increased from to 88 minutes.
minutes.
3.0 ———————————————————————————————————
3.0.

0-

<u

1.0

1 1 I

2468
2 4 6 8
Silylation time
Silylation (min)
time (min)
FIGURE 8:
8: Process
Process latitude for si1,ylatiuu
for time
silylatioii tiiue.
The dry
The dry development
development can,
can, in
in principle,
principle, be
be carried out in
carried out any anisotropie
in any plasma
oxygen plasma
anisotropic oxygen
etcher. Best result have
Best result have been
been obtained
obtained so
so far
far in magnetron enhanced
in magnetron enhanced etchers such as
etchers such MRC's
as MRC's
MIE and
and ARIES etchers.
ARIES etchers. Good
Good results have
have been
been obtained in standard
obtained in RIE
standard RIE systems as well.
However, in order to
to obtain
obtain good
good selectivity, low power
selectivity, low has to
power has be used
to be resulting in
used resulting very
in very
long
long etch times.
times. In the MIE
In the MIE systems
systems on
on the other hand,
the other selectivily can be obtained
high selectivily
hand, high
with very high
high etch rates.
etch rates. Development
Development times about 1 minute
of about
times of are possible,
minute are which is
possible, which an
is an 1

acceptable throughput
acceptable throughput for
for aa single
single wafer
wafer system.
system.

74 / SPIE
74 / SPIEVol.
Vol.771
771Advances
AdvancesininResist
ResistTechnology
Technology and
andProcessing (1987)
Processing IV (1987)

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 6. Performance
6. Performance

Since imaging
Since imaging takes
takes place
place in only a
in only layer of
top layer
thin top
a thin of the resolution is
resist, resolution
the resist, is only
only
limited by the exposure contrast of the equipment.
the exposure equipment. On NA GCA
0.30 NA
On a 0.30 stepper
GCA stepper
(g -line) a a resolution
(g-line) resolution of
of 0.7 urn -- 0.8 ym
0.7 pm pm can be obtained,
be regardless of
of the resist
the resist
thickness and topography. On a gg-line
a -line with an
stepper with
stepper 0.38 NA
an 0.38 lens, 0.6
NA lens, yrn lines
0.6 pm and
lines and
spaces
spaces have been
been patterned.
patterned. When an -line stepper
i-line
an i is used
stepper is an high NA
with an
used with NA lens resolution
lens resolution
down to
down 0.4 -- 0.5
to 0.4 0.5 pm can be
yra can obtained.
be obtained.

FIGURE
FIGURE 9:
9: Plasmask
Plasmask pat tenis on
patterns 011 IEnn
l//m aluminum topography

Figure 99 shows
shows results
results obtained on aa 0.42
obtained on NA i
0.42 NA -line stepper.
i-line stepper. Line space patterns
and space
Line and patterns
from 1.5
from 1.5 down
down to
to 0.4
0.4 pm
ym are
are shown
shown on \im high
on 1 pm in 1.6
topography in
aluminum topography
high aluminum 1 Plasrnask
thick Plasmask
pm thick
1.6 pm
resist..
resist

FIGURE 10:
10: 0.6
O.G and
and 0.4
0.4 pm
//in lines
lines and spares
spares iii
in Planmark
Plasmask resist
resist over
over hull
1/im aluminum steps
aluminum steps

Figure 10
10 shows
shows aa close -up of
close-up of the 0.6 and
the 0.6 and 0.4 patterns.
yrn patterns.
0.4 pm As can be
As can seen from
be seen these
from these
pictures, sidewalls are vertical and no reflection problems
problems can noticed!
be noticed!
can be Another
Another
important feature of
important feature of this
this process
process is that by
is that the right
choosing the
by choosing right processing conditions,
processing conditions, no
no

SPIE Vol. 771

SPIE Vol. 771 Advances Processing IV
Advances in Resist Technology and Processing (1987) //
/V (1987) 75

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 biasing of
biasing of the
the linewidths takes
takes place.
place. It
It is
is possible
possible toto print
print large and
and small
small features
features at
at
the
the exact
exact size
size without biasing the
without biasing the dimensions
dimensions on
on the
the mask.
mask. This is shown in figure 11
where the
where the width of lines
width of lines and
and spaces
spaces is
is plotted
plotted as
as aa function
function of
of exposure
exposure dose.
dose.

Spaces BEFORE BAKE

BEFORE AFTER
AFTER BAKE

2.0 --
Ê 2.0
- O Lines

Nominal
Nominal llnewidth
linewidth
1.5
v 1.5 -
-•
Iv 2.0
2.0 um
C

....:: `.. —— 1.2 um

1.2 um
t,.

S0.5
0.8
0.8 um

I I I

600
600 700
700 800
800 900
900
Exposure
Exposure time (msec)
(msec)

FIGURE 11:
11: Adeasnrell width uf
Measured width of lines
lines and FIGURE 12:
12: Plasmask
Flasmask patterns
patternsi before
a' hwe and
and after
after
spaces
spaces versus exposure tilltl'
time 3011 °Cbake
300 °C hake011
onaa hot.
but plate?
plate

Finally,
Finally, the
the extremely
extremely high thermal stability
high thermal stability ofof the
the Plasmask
Plasmask resist
resist is demonstrated
in
in 12.
figure 12. Hot-plate
Hot -plate baking
baking at
at temperatures
temperatures up
up to
to 300
300 °C
°C apparently
apparently does
does not
not cause
cause any
any
deformation of
deformation of the
the resist
resist patterns.
patterns.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research was supported
This supported by
by an
an IWONL
IWONL grant.
grant. The authors wish to
The authors to thank
thank A.M.Goethals
A.M.Goethals
and F.
F. Merckx for their
Merckx for their experimental
experimental assistance
assistance and
and G.Brasseur,
G.Rrasseur, H.Meynen
H.Meynen and
and E.
E. Niclaes
for
for carrying
carrying out
out the
the plasma developments and
plasma developments and researchers
researchers at
at Philips
Philips Eindhoven for
for RBS,
RBS, SIMS
SIMS
and FTIR analyses.
analyses.

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76 / SPIE
/ SHEVol.
Vol.771
771Advances
AdvancesinInResist
ResistTechnology
Technologyand
andProcessing
Processing /V (1987)
IV (1987)

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