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Pattern Roughness Mitigation of 22 nm Lines and Spaces: The Impact of a H 2 Plasma Treatment
Author(s) -
De Schepper Peter,
Vaglio Pret Alessandro,
el Otell Ziad,
Hansen Terje,
AltamiranoSanchez Efrain,
De Gendt Stefan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
plasma processes and polymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1612-8869
pISSN - 1612-8850
DOI - 10.1002/ppap.201400078
Subject(s) - extreme ultraviolet lithography , extreme ultraviolet , photoresist , plasma , materials science , smoothing , lithography , surface finish , ultraviolet , outgassing , optoelectronics , optics , nanotechnology , computer science , chemistry , composite material , physics , laser , nuclear physics , organic chemistry , layer (electronics) , computer vision
As the semiconductor industry pursues Moore's law, the demand to obtain smaller features continues. Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography remains one of the primary options for sub‐20 nm patterns. However, the technology struggles to meet the line width roughness (LWR) specifications. In this article, we present the significance of plasma treatment as a roughness smoothing technique. Two EUV photoresists with 22 nm lines are exposed to various plasma processes. We highlight the advantages of a hydrogen plasma treatment and its vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) emission as an optimal smoothing process and discuss the effect of photoresist thickness, initial LWR and the VUV plasma emission. Even though a H 2 plasma treatment results in a successful reduction of LWR/LER, the target value of below 2nm is not yet achieved.