Abstract
With the shrinkage of feature sizes, there is a need for bulk-resist models to evaluate resist performance in process simulators. This study investigates the sources of blur during image formation in chemically amplified resist (CAR) for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure. It evaluates the acid generation blur due to photo acid generator (PAG) activation before post exposure bake (PEB) and the de-protection blur during PEB due to diffusion–reaction coupling of generated acids in the resist. The acid generation bulk-resist model is derived from the molecular formulation of resists [T. Kozawa, A. Saeki, S. Tagawa, Appl. Phys. Exp. 1 (2008) 027001]. While, the PEB de-protection blur is obtained from a chemical kinetics model [F.A. Houle, et. al. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B19 (2000) 1874]. These derived bulk-resist models depend largely on the experimental data for obtaining resist-blur (kernel) parameters. In order to present the complete image formation in resist, an optimization model is proposed to build the kernel functionality and extract the kernel parameters using EUV critical dimension (CD) data on the test pattern.
Published Version
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