Characterization and Modeling of Out‐Diffusion of Manganese and Zinc Impurities from Deep Ultraviolet Photoresist

Abstract

The radioactive tracer technique was applied to investigate the out‐diffusion of manganese and zinc impurities from deep‐ultraviolet (DUV) photoresist. Two important process parameters, viz., baking temperature and the type of substrate (i.e., bare silicon, polysilicon, oxide, or nitride), were evaluated. Our results indicated that diffusion ratios were all below 6%, irrespective of the substrate type and baking temperature. The substrate type did not appear to strongly affect the metallic impurity out‐diffusion from DUV photoresist. However, solvent evaporation was found to have a significant effect on impurity diffusion. A new model, together with a new parameter, was proposed to describe the out‐diffusion behavior of impurities from DUV photoresist. This model could explain the diffusion ratio of metallic impurities in photoresist layers under various baking conditions. The effectiveness of various wet cleaning recipes in removing metallic impurities such as manganese and zinc was also studied. It was found that (i) bath life due to temperature change can considerably affect the cleaning efficiency, and (ii) hot water immersion can effectively dissolve the impurities from the wafer surface. © 1999 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.