Novel Wet Developable Materials for DUV Lithography

"Acute competitive pressures to produce ever faster and more complex integrated circuits at diminishing costs continually drive IC manufacturers to find new, improved materials and processes without investing in new equipment sets. Currently in themicroelectronic industry, most equipment sets utilize deep ultraviolet (DUV) lasers in photolithography. One promising avenue to meet this demand for lower cost of ownership in DUV photolithography is the development of new materials to use as wetdevelopable DUV bottom antireflective coatings (BARCs). BARCs are necessary to control reflections of light from the substrate surface when the photoresist is exposed to light. Traditional BARC technology requires a four-step process including anadditional etch step to remove the BARC. In contrast, photolithography with a wet developable BARC requires only three steps because the BARC is removed concurrently with the photoresist. This will not only reduce cost, but also increase manufacturingthroughput because fewer production steps will be required. This new material will meet industry requirements such as low reflectivity, spin bowl compatibility, photoresist compatibility, and patternability. These characteristics will allow easyintegration of wet developable DUV BARCs into current equipment sets without further investment. A wet developable, DUV BARC will greatly reduce the cost of ownership in photolithography. Anticipated savings will