Electron-beam nanolithography, acid diffusion, and chemical kinetics in SAL-601

Abstract

The work presents a unique investigation of the role of postexposure bake (PEB) on resist insolubility, PEB reaction kinetics, and the high resolution behavior of Microposit™ SAL-601. Patterns of 20–100 μm rectangles and single pass isolated lines were written on a JEOL JBX-5DII e-beam lithography system operated at 50 kV. The effects of PEB temperatures of 90–110 °C for periods of 1–11 min on resist insolubility and linewidth were examined. The samples were developed in MF-322 or acetone. The range of patterns allowed measurement of both the resist exposure curves and the line spread for each PEB condition. Insolubility in MF-322 can result from protection reactions and/or crosslinking reactions. Acetone insolubility, a characteristic of crosslinked resist, was observed at PEB temperatures of 100 °C and above. At 90 °C, acetone insolubility (crosslinking) was observed only after a PEB of 11 min. From the resist exposure curves for a sequence of PEB times, reaction orders for the PEB processes that led to resist insolubility were determined. At temperatures of 100–110 °C, reaction orders of 2.4 and 2.1 were obtained for reactions that led to insolubility in MF-322 and acetone, respectively. At 90 °C the order of reaction leading to MF-322 insolubility was 1.8. PEBs at 90 °C for 3 and 6 min produced the finest lines, with linewidths ⩽50 nm over an order of magnitude range in dose. An acid diffusion mth order reaction model, which allows for H+ loss to the surface, was introduced to analyze the linewidth measurements. In the 105–110 °C temperature range, the model best fit the data with diffusion coefficients of 4–8 nm2/s and acid loss rates of 0.003–0.005%/s.