Defectivity Metrology During DSA Patterning
AssigneeTokyo Electron Limited
InventorsVinayak Rastogi, Alok Ranjan
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Abstract
The described embodiments include performing a curing process for selective treatment, or hardening, of PS regions in PS-b-PMMA block copolymer DSA films prior to dry etch development of PMMA regions. In various embodiments, the curing chemistry can be Ar/H2, HBr, N2/H2, etc., which has the capability of generating Vacuum Ultraviolet (VUV) photon flux for polymer curing. The curing effect may enhance the etch resistance of PS regions, thereby freezing the bulk defects during plasma PMMA removal. The defects can then be measured by commonly used metrology techniques like CDSEM and quantized.
Claims20
A method for an integration process for enabling defectivity metrology on a substrate, the method comprising:
- providing the substrate in a process chamber of the fabrication system, the substrate comprising a top layer with a first material and a second material and an underlying layer;
- performing a vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) curing process on the substrate to enhance etch resistance of the second material during a subsequent etch process and to enable metrology to detect defects underneath a surface of the top layer;
- performing a metrology process to quantify defects made visible by the VUV curing process, the metrology process generating a defect profile of the top layer;
- performing an etch process to remove the second material using a dry plasma process and utilizing the defect profile, the etch process generating a first pattern on the substrate;
- and
- controlling one more integration variables in order to meet target integration objectives during one or more process including the VUV curing process, the metrology process, and/or the etch process.
The method of claim 4 wherein the first copolymer is polystyrene (PS) and the second copolymer is polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.