Line-edge roughness: Characterization and material origin

Toru Yamaguchi; Kenji Yamazaki; Masao Nagase; Hideo Namatsu

doi:10.1143/jjap.42.3755

Line-edge roughness: Characterization and material origin

Toru Yamaguchi, Kenji Yamazaki, Masao Nagase, Hideo Namatsu

Faculty of Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

45 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Line-edge roughness (LER) is a serious problem that we encounter in nanolithography as pattern sizes shrink. Two critical issues concerning the LER of resist patterns are its characterization and its origin. In this study, characterization involved estimating the LER of 300-nm line-&-space patterns in ZEP520 resist of various thicknesses by three standard metrological methods: top-down scanning electron microscope (SEM) method, top-down atomic force microscope (AFM) method, and sidewall AFM method. In this paper, we review these methods and compare their results. Regarding the origin, sidewall AFM measurements revealed polymer aggregates naturally contained in resist films to be the origin of LER in chain-scission-type resists. How the aggregates contribute to LER during the development process was also clarified.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3755-3762
Number of pages	8
Journal	Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Part 1: Regular Papers and Short Notes and Review Papers
Volume	42
Issue number	6 B
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1143/jjap.42.3755
Publication status	Published - Jun 2003

Keywords

Development
Electron-beam lithography
Line-edge roughness
Polymer aggregates
Positive-tone resists

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Engineering(all)
Physics and Astronomy(all)

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10.1143/jjap.42.3755

Cite this

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AU - Yamaguchi, Toru

AU - Yamazaki, Kenji

AU - Nagase, Masao

AU - Namatsu, Hideo

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Y1 - 2003/6

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AB - Line-edge roughness (LER) is a serious problem that we encounter in nanolithography as pattern sizes shrink. Two critical issues concerning the LER of resist patterns are its characterization and its origin. In this study, characterization involved estimating the LER of 300-nm line-&-space patterns in ZEP520 resist of various thicknesses by three standard metrological methods: top-down scanning electron microscope (SEM) method, top-down atomic force microscope (AFM) method, and sidewall AFM method. In this paper, we review these methods and compare their results. Regarding the origin, sidewall AFM measurements revealed polymer aggregates naturally contained in resist films to be the origin of LER in chain-scission-type resists. How the aggregates contribute to LER during the development process was also clarified.

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Line-edge roughness: Characterization and material origin

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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