Materials evaluation of antireflective coatings for single-layer 193-nm lithography.pdf

Materials evaluation of antireflective coatings for single-layer 193-nm lithography Rodenck R. Kunz Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lexington, MA 02173-9108 Robert D. Allen IBM-Almaden Research Center San Jose, CA 95120 ABSTRACT A survey of optical constants for a variety of materials measured at 193 nm suggests that antireflection measures will be necessary for single-layer resist lithography at 193 nm. The extent to which standing waves occur in 193-nm resists is similar in magnitude to those occurring at 248 nm. To help reduce these effects, a new spin-on antireflective layer has been developed. It is composed of a polymeric dye in a phase-compatible blend with a transparent base polymer, can be thermally cured to render it insoluble, and is compatible with chemically amplified resists. In addition to this spin-on material, extension of existing 248-nm dry-deposited antireflective layers to 193 nm should allow for either spin-on or dry-deposited antireflection coatings for 193-nm lithography. 1. INTRODUCTION Production photolithography using 248-nm radiation currently faces engineering challenges when patterning nonplanar substrates due to nonuniformities in the photoresist layer thickness. These difficulties stem from thin-film interference in the photoresist. Several years ago Brunner1 outlined a number of methods for reducing these effects. The methods described were t