Simulation of Fine Resist Profile Formation by Electron Beam Drawing and Development with Solubility Rate Based on Energy Deposition Distribution

Abstract

We proposed a model for calculating the resist profile in electron beam drawing. The model predicts the solubility rate on the basis of the energy deposition distribution (EDD) for the development of latent patterns in the resist. By unifying the exposure dose D (via experiments) and EDDs (via calculations), we roughly determined solubility rates for three-dimensional EDDs, and established the proposed model. The development simulation was achieved by the sequential calculation method for solubility rates based on EDD which was calculated by Monte Carlo simulation. By determining a suitable EDD region to achieve good patterning, we obtained a sharp nanodot pattern of the resist. This simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results obtained using a combination of 2.3 wt % tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and 4 wt % NaCl as the developer. The model was demonstrated to be useful for predicting resist profiles with different experimental solubility rates of developers.