Objective
The critical resist and processing issues associated with the application of 157nm lithography for the 70nm node are addressed:
1) Siloxane-based resists, and also fluorinated resists are synthesized.
2) The outgasing of these and model materials is examined leading to suitable resist material selection. High Resolution experiments will be used for resist optimisation. The outgasing understanding gained from work on model polymers is complemented with an effort to redirect the outgasing fragments away from the lens position using polarised light. In addition the bonding tendency of fragments to CaF[2] is studied.
3) Serious work is devoted on Line Edge Roughness studies (LER) by developing a software to standardise the LER measurement through RMS and Fractal Analysis. LER reduction strategies will be demonstrated especially for plasma developed resists. Finally a molecular LER simulator will be developed.
Objectives:
The aim of this project is to do research on critical resist and processing issues associated with the application of 157nm lithography for 70nm fabrication.
1) The first objective is to develop prototype resist materials and understand resist chemistries for 157nm lithography. Resists based on novel siloxane copolymers and in addition partially fluorinated resists will be synthesized. Backup solutions of bilayer silyation will be developed.
2) The second objective is the understanding and quantification of resist outgasing at 157nm, and its reduction by changing the direction of fragments. The outgasing work will also guide the resist material selection.
3) The third objective is the measurement, standardisation, reduction and simulation of the Line Edge Roughness. Software packages will be developed for LER evaluation, simulation, and reduction.
Work description:
The project is divided as follows:
The three major tasks of the project, namely new resist chemistries, outgasing, and LER are organised into 3 different work packages.
A 4th work package named "High Resolution Processing" is addressing the 70nm node needs, while a management (0th) workpackage is controlling all activities.
Since the goal is to achieve resists and processes with low LER, low outgasing, and high resolution, the workpackages are moving in parallel with horizontal and vertical communication among them. Resist materials are being developed, the outgasing of these materials is tested, and first low-resolution imaging is attempted. The promising materials are selected for high-resolution experiments and further LER evaluation, the results lead to improvements of the materials, and a repetition of the cycle.
The structure is shown below:
WP1: PROTOTYPE PHOTORESIST MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT
T1: Synthesis of Aqueous Base Developable Siloxane-based polymers;
T2: Silylation processes,
T3: Partially fluorinated polymers,
T4: Prototype lithographic materials with optimised physicochemical properties - Preliminary exposures
WP2: RESIST OUTGASING
T1. 157 nm resist outgasing measurements,
T2. Control of the outgasing photofragments emission direction,
T3. Photofragment attachment and bonding to the lens
WP3: LINE EDGE ROUGHNESS (LER) STUDIES
T1. Standardization of LER measurements,
T2. Effect of process parameters on LER, and LER reduction strategies,
T3. Reduction of LER for pattern transfer with plasma,
T4. Molecular simulation of LER with coupled with aerial image simulation.
WP4: HIGH RESOLUTION PROCESSES:
T1: 157nm resist process development,
T2: Optimised 157nm resists and processes
Milestones:
Milestone 1 M1: Selection of polymer platforms with minimal outgasing problems
M2: Standardisation of LER measurement and evaluation methods
M3: Synthesis of 157nm resist with potential for high resolution
M4: Technology for LER minimisation emphasising the pattern transfer with plasma
M5: Technology for measuring and controlling outgasing
M6: Demonstration of a high resolution/sensitivity and process stable 157nm resist
M7: Software for LER simulation
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftware
- natural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciences
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Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
15310 AGHIA PARASKEVI ATTIKIS
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