A polysilazane is investigated for a spin-on glass (SOG) used for a middle layer in a trilevel resist system. Higher film density is required for the middle layer to obtain higher etch resistance during the underlayer etching. The compositions of the polysilazane baked at 200°C and 300°C are Si0.42O0.34C0.40N0.20 and Si0.29O0.65C0.10N0.05, respectively, which are determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The polysilazane is converted to silicon-oxide-like compositions by baking at 300°C. The film density and etch rate of SOG made from polysilazane are compared with that of polysiloxsane on condition that both films are baked at 300°C. The film density of the SOG made from the polysilazane is 2.07 g/cm3, which is higher than 1.87 g/cm3 of the conventional SOG made from a polysiloxsan. The etch resistance of the SOG made from the polysilazane is improved by 90% compared with that of the SOG made from the polysiloxsane due to the increased film density.
A polysilazane was investigated as a precursor to a spin-on glass (SOG) used for a middle-layer in a tri-level resist system. Higher film density is required for the middle-layer in order to obtain higher etch resistance during the under-resist etching and prevent the acids in the resist from diffusing to the SOG, which induces deteriorating of resist patterns. High film density of the SOG was achieved by spin-coating the polysilazane solution. The compositions of the polysilazane baked at 200 °C and 300 °C are Si42O34C4N20 and Si29O65C1N5, respectively. The polysilazane is converted to silicon-oxide likely structure by baking at 300 °C. The film density of the SOG made from the polysilazane (SGPZ) is 2.07 g/cm3, which was higher than 1.87 g/cm3 of the conventional SOG made from a polysiloxsane. The etch resistance of the SGPZ baked at 300 °C which is expected not to volatilize the under-resist is improved by 90% compared with that of the SOG made from the polysiloxsane baked at 300 °C due to the increased film density of the SGPZ. The refractive indices of the films are n=1.56, k=0.01 (ArF) and n=1.68, k=0.02 (F2). Without the stacked films of SGPZ/under-resist, reflectivities to the resist are 56.2% (ArF) and 44.2% (F2). By optimizing the SGPZ thickness, the reflectivity is reduced to less than 0.7% (ArF) and 0.4% (F2). In conclusions, the polysilazane can be as the superior material for the SOG used for the middle-layer in the tri-level resist system.
KEYWORDS: Lithography, Reflectivity, Reactive ion etching, Photoresist processing, Etching, Deep ultraviolet, Carbon, Scanning electron microscopy, Photoresist materials, Imaging systems
A material and process development of a tri-level resist system is carried out to introduce the resist system into 130nm and 110nm device fabrication. The tri-level resist system consists of organic films as a bottom layer, spin-on- glass (SOG) as a middle layer and DUV photoresists as a top imaging layer. A wettability and an acidity of the SOG film are adjusted depending on the type of resist materials to obtain a desirable resist profile. The anti-reflective performance of the tri-level resist system is evaluated along with the lithographic performance. A light reflection (reflectivity) in the DUV photoresist film is reduced less than 0.5% for both KrF resist and ArF resist by choosing the nominal thickness of the SOG film and the bottom layer. A conventional DNQ-Novolak type MUV resist is used for the bottom layer in the KrF tri-level resist system. The MUV resist is thermally cured to avoid mixing with the SOG and to increase the optical density at 248nm wavelength. A newly developed spin-on-carbon film is used for the bottom layer in the ArF tri-level resist system. The spin-on-carbon has an excellent dry etch resistance because of its high carbon content (>90%). The dry etch rates of the MUV resist and the spin-on-carbon for CF4/O2/Ar etch chemistry (SiN RIE condition) are 372nm/min and 287nm/min respectively. A pattern transfer using the tri-level resist system is demonstrated for both L/S and hole structures.
Application of polysilanes for a deep UV (DUV) bottom anti- reflective coating (BARC), in order to resolve the problem posed by the insufficient anti-reflection with thin conventional organic BARC applied on transparent dielectric film, is described. The newly developed polysilane anti- reflective coating has the real part of refractive index, n equals 2.00, and the imaginary part, k equals 0.23 at 248 nm. The polysilane coating is immiscible with a chemically amplified photoresist, and is not removable during normal wet development of photoresist. Etching rate of the polysilane is 2 times faster than that of DUV resist during BARC etching, and lower than that of DUV resist during dielectric film etching. The polysilane layer is easily removed by ashing using O2 gas process. Using thick polysilane coating, it can realize both the suppression of the interface reflection between the resist and BARC and good critical dimension control on dielectric film.
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