Novel EUV resist development for sub-14nm half pitch

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography has emerged as a promising candidate for the manufacturing of semiconductor devices at the sub-14nm half pitch lines and spaces (LS) pattern for 7 nm node and beyond. The success of EUV lithography for the high volume manufacturing of semiconductor devices depends on the availability of suitable resist with high resolution and sensitivity. It is well-known that the key challenge for EUV resist is the simultaneous requirement of ultrahigh resolution (R), low line edge roughness (L) and high sensitivity (S). In this paper, we investigated and developed new chemically amplified resist (CAR) materials to achieve sub-14 nm hp resolution. We found that both resolution and sensitivity were improved simultaneously by controlling acid diffusion length and efficiency of acid generation using novel PAG and sensitizer. EUV lithography evaluation results obtained for new CAR on Micro Exposure Tool (MET) and NXE3300 system are described and the fundamentals are discussed.