Study of Self Cross-Link Bottom Antireflective Coating and Gap Fill Materials for Sublimate Defect Reduction in ArF Lithography

Abstract

Sublimate reduction from the new bottom antireflective coating (BARC) and gap fill materials in bake process was investigated by means of absorption spectroscopy and the quantitative analysis of sublimation using the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensing element. The small molecular components in BARC and gap fill materials were found to be related to a decrease in the number of sublimate defect. The application of the newly developed BARC and gap fill materials of the polymers with a self cross-link reaction system showed lower sublimate amount. In addition, good resist profiles and 130 nm via fill performance in the via-first dual damascene process were achieved using this self cross-link polymer system. This new system is one of the most promising systems ready to be tested for the mass production of 32–45 nm node IC devices and beyond.