Post-development resist hardening by vapor silylation
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsAri Aviram, Michael Joseph Rooks
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Abstract
A method of improving the etch resistance of a patterned imageable resist prior to patterning an underlying substrate layer is provided. Specifically, the method employed by the present invention comprises applying a layer of an imageable resist to a substrate layer; patterning the layer of imageable resist by removing selective areas thereof; and treating the patterned imageable resist with an atmosphere comprising molecules of a hardening agent so as to obtain a hardened resist surface which etches at a slower rate than that of the untreated resist.
Claims20
A method of improving the etch resistance of a patterned resist prior to patterning an underlying substrate layer, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) applying a layer of an imageable resist to a substrate layer;
- (b) patterning the layer of imageable resist by removing selective areas thereof;
- and
- (c) treating the patterned resist with an atmosphere comprising molecules of a hardening agent so as to obtain a hardened resist surface that etches at a slower rate than that of the untreated resist, wherein said hardening agent includes a metalloid or metallic element selected from Group IIA, IVB, VIII and IIIA of the Periodic Table of Elements.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.