Polymer crosslink de-crosslink processes for resist patterning
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsYu-Chung Su, Lilin Chang, Jia-Lin Wei, Ching-Yu Chang
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Abstract
A method for forming a semiconductor structure is provided. The method includes forming a photoresist layer over a substrate. The photoresist layer includes a polymer, a photoacid initiator and a crosslinker containing at least two crosslinking sites. The photoresist layer is then cured to crosslink the polymer, thereby forming a crosslinked polymer. Next, the photoresist layer is exposed to a radiation. An acid produced from exposure of the photoacid generator de-crosslinks the crosslinked polymer in exposed portions of the photoresist layer. The exposed portions of the photoresist layer are subsequently removed to form a patterned photoresist layer.
Claims20
A method of forming a semiconductor structure, comprising:
- forming a photoresist layer over a substrate, wherein the photoresist layer comprises a polymer, a photoacid initiator and a crosslinker, the crosslinker having one of the following structures:
- wherein R is alkylene, haloalkylene, cycloalkylene, heteroalkylene, haloheteroalkylene, cycloheteroalkylene, arylene, haloarylene, or haloheteroarylene;
- performing a curing process to the photoresist layer, wherein the crosslinker is crosslinked with the polymer to form a crosslinked polymer;
- exposing the photoresist layer to a radiation, wherein an acid produced from exposure of a photoacid generator de-crosslinks the crosslinked polymer in exposed portions of the photoresist layer;
- and
- removing the exposed portions of the photoresist layer to form a patterned photoresist layer.
A method of forming a semiconductor structure, comprising:
- depositing a material layer over a substrate;
- forming a photoresist layer over the material layer, wherein the photoresist layer comprises a polymer, a photoacid generator and a crosslinker, the crosslinker having the following structure:
- R1—(R2-L-R3—Z)m, (I)
- wherein:
- R1 is alkylene, haloalkylene, cycloalkylene, heteroalkylene, haloheteroalkylene, cycloheteroalkylene, arylene, haloarylene or haloheteroarylene;
- R2 and R3, at each occurrence, are independently optional alkylene, haloalkylene, cycloalkylene, heteroalkylene, haloheteroalkylene, cycloheteroalkylene, arylene, haloarylene, or haloheteroarylene;
- L is an optional cleavable linker selected from the group consisting of ester, silyl ether, acetal, ketal, amide, imine, imide and carbamate;
- Z is a crosslinkable functional group selected from the group consisting of aldehyde and sulfonic acid;
- and
- m is an integer greater than 1;
- forming a crosslinked polymer by initiating a crosslinking reaction between the crosslinker and the polymer;
- exposing the photoresist layer to a radiation, wherein an acid produced from exposure of the photoacid generator de-crosslinks the crosslinked polymer in exposed portions of the photoresist layer;
- removing the exposed portions of the photoresist layer to form a patterned photoresist layer;
- and
- etching the material layer using the patterned photoresist layer as an etch mask.
A method of forming a semiconductor structure, comprising:
- forming a photoresist composition comprising a polymer, a photoacid generator, a crosslinker and a solvent, wherein the polymer comprises at least one reactive group and the crosslinker comprises two or more crosslinkable functional groups capable of crosslinking with the at least one reactive group of the polymer, wherein the crosslinker has one of the following structures:
- wherein R is alkylene, haloalkylene, cycloalkylene, heteroalkylene, haloheteroalkylene, cycloheteroalkylene, arylene, haloarylene, or haloheteroarylene;
- applying the photoresist composition to a material layer over a substrate to form a photoresist layer thereon;
- curing the photoresist layer, wherein the curing causes the crosslinking reaction between the crosslinker and the polymer, thereby forming a crosslinked polymer;
- exposing the photoresist layer to a radiation, wherein an acid produced from exposure of the photoacid generator de-crosslinks the crosslinked polymer in exposed portions of the photoresist layer;
- and
- removing the exposed portions of the photoresist layer to form a patterned photoresist layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.