Relationships between quencher diffusion constant and exposure dose dependences of line width, line edge roughness, and stochastic defect generation in extreme ultraviolet lithography

Abstract

Control of the acid catalytic chain reaction is essential in the pattern formation of chemically amplified resists used for the high-volume production of semiconductor devices. In this study, the relationships between the quencher diffusion constant and the exposure dose dependences of the line width, line edge roughness (LER), and stochastic defect generation were investigated assuming extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. The dependence of the latent images of line-and-space patterns with 16 nm half-pitch on the quencher diffusion constant was calculated on the basis of sensitization and reaction mechanisms of chemically amplified EUV resists. The exposure latitude of the line width increased with the quencher diffusion constant. The dependences of LER and stochastic defect (bridges and pinching) generation on the deviation of the exposure dose became weak by increasing the quencher diffusion constant, similarly to the case for the dependence of the line width.