Paper
29 June 1984 Stabilization Of Single Layer And Multilayer Resist Patterns To Aluminum Etching Environments
John C Matthews, John I. Willmott Jr.
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
Lithographers have responded to the industry's challenge to produce precise resist patterns as circuit features shrink to one micron. These precise resist patterns must with-stand higher powered, dry processes without loss of image integrity. The first generation of positive resists do not withstand high temperature processes, and the second generation of "high temperature" positive resists are inadequate to withstand the most difficult process environments such as plasma etching of aluminum alloyed with copper. This paper describes a new process using ultraviolet light and controlled temperature operation to stabilize first and second generation positive resists at production throughputs while eliminating the need for hardbakes. Reduced erosion rates in metal etch have been obtained vs the plasma stabilization and hardbaking technique. The process, called UV/BAKE, increases the wafer temperature above the normal resist flow temperature during the exposure. The high temperatures, which greatly accelerate the stabilization process, can be accommodated without loss of image integrity due to an increasing degree of crosslinking brought about by the exposure to UV. Typically positive resists can be fully stabilized by a 42 second exposure to intense UV while increasing the wafer temperature from 1000 C to 200 C. SEM analysis verifies the effectiveness of this stabilization process to enable several common positive photoresists to withstand high temperature and planar plasma etching of aluminum. This paper also describes a modified UV/BAKE L" process for stabilizing two-layer resist structures.
© (1984) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
John C Matthews and John I. Willmott Jr. "Stabilization Of Single Layer And Multilayer Resist Patterns To Aluminum Etching Environments", Proc. SPIE 0470, Optical Microlithography III: Technology for the Next Decade, (29 June 1984); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.941915
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CITATIONS
Cited by 7 scholarly publications and 4 patents.
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KEYWORDS
Ultraviolet radiation

Photoresist processing

Etching

Semiconducting wafers

Image processing

Photoresist materials

Aluminum

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