Inspection of next generation EUV resists with nano-projectile SIMS

Gregrey Swieca; Won-II Lee; Shixian Ha; Nikhil Tiwale; Chang-Yong Nam; Michael J. Eller

doi:10.1117/12.3037084

12 November 2024 Inspection of next generation EUV resists with nano-projectile SIMS

Gregrey Swieca, Won-II Lee, Shixian Ha, Nikhil Tiwale, Chang-Yong Nam, Michael J. Eller

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 13215, International Conference on Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography 2024; 132151B (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3037084
Event: SPIE Photomask Technology + EUV Lithography, 2024, Monterey, California, United States

Conference Poster

Abstract

There is a rapidly growing need for new materials for extreme ultra-violet, EUV, lithography which incorporate high EUV absorbing atoms. Hybrid resists which are a combination of inorganic and organic moieties are promising as they offer both high EUV sensitivity and high etch resistance. However, there is a glaring lack of methods to examine the uniformity of these important materials at the nanoscale. Here we examine the capabilities of Nano-Projectile Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (NP-SIMS) to investigate hybrid resists. NP-SIMS is a mass spectrometry-based technique with high lateral resolution. Using NP-SIMS, a surface is probed stochastically with a suite of individual projectiles, 10⁶⁻⁷ in total, separated in time and space. Examining these individual mass spectra allows for nanoscale investigation of the uniformity of the surface. We evaluated the performance NP-SIMS using samples of polymethyl methacrylate, PMMA, infiltrated with varying amounts of InO_x via vapor-phase infiltration (VPI). We found that NP-SIMS measurements contained abundant characteristic ions related to both the PMMA and infiltrated In. The intensity of In atomic ions increased linearly with the number of infiltration cycles, however the uniformity of In and PMMA varied with the number of infiltration cycles. After one cycle we found that both the PMMA and In were relatively inhomogeneous. The homogeneity improved with subsequent infiltration cycles. Overall, the results show that NP-SIMS is capable of examining both the inorganic and organic moieties in a hybrid resist and will be an important method for understanding the performance of these materials for use in EUV lithography.

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Gregrey Swieca, Won-II Lee, Shixian Ha, Nikhil Tiwale, Chang-Yong Nam, and Michael J. Eller "Inspection of next generation EUV resists with nano-projectile SIMS", Proc. SPIE 13215, International Conference on Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography 2024, 132151B (12 November 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3037084

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