SLITS simulator: modeling and simulation of e‐beam/deep‐ultraviolet exposure and silylation

Abstract

The positive resist image by dry etching (PRIME) process is a high-resolution positive resist system incorporating deep-UV (DUV)/e- beam exposure, silylation (gas/liquid phase), and dry development. A new method to calculate the silylation profile in the PRIME process is presented. New software modules have been added to the 2-D simulator SLITS (simulation of lithography on topographic substrates) to simulate the silylation and dry-developed profiles in the PRIME process. The si- Iylation and dry-developed profiles for the PRIME process are simulated and compared to experimental results. Simulations were carried out for both e-beam and DUV exposures. Under e-beam exposure, the maxi- mum percentage error between the simulated and experimental results was 137.. Under DUV exposure, the silylation depth at the mask edge can be reduced by increasing the dose thus effectively controlling the resist linewidth. Subject terms: PRIME process; lithography modeling; nanolithography; silylation; dry development.