Alkaline‐developable and negative‐type photosensitive polyimide with high sensitivity and excellent mechanical properties using photo‐base generator

Abstract An alkaline developable and negative‐type PSPI with a high sensitivity and excellent mechanical properties based on a poly(amic acid) (PAA) and a photo‐base generator has been developed. The PAA was prepared by the polycondensation of p ‐phenylenediamine (PDA) with an equimolar of 3,3′,4,4′‐biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA) and 4,4′‐(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride (6‐FDA) and converted thermally to the corresponding polyimide, PI(PDA‐BPDA/6‐FDA). PI(PDA‐BPDA/6‐FDA) showed the high thermal and mechanical properties and the dimensional stability such as the thermal decomposition temperature of 530°C, glass transition temperature of 369°C, linear coefficient of thermal expansion of 28 ppm/K, ultimate tensile strength of 148 MPa, elongation at break of 25% and dielectric constant of 2.8. The PSPI was formulated directly from PAA(PDA‐BPDA/6‐FDA) with a photo‐base generator (PBG), (E)‐3‐(2‐hydroxy‐4‐methoxyphenyl)‐1‐(piperidin‐1‐yl)prop‐2‐en‐1‐one (HMPP) (10 wt% to PAA) and the optimized parameters for photolithographic process were investigated including the PBG content, post‐exposure bake (PEB) temperature, and PEB time. The PSPI based on PAA(PDA‐BPDA/6‐FDA) and HMPP (10 wt% to PAA) showed a sensitivity of 114 mJ/cm 2 and contrast of 1.29 when exposed to 365‐nm light ( i ‐line), post‐exposure baked at 160°C for 5 min, and developed with an aqueous solution of 2.38 wt% tetramethylammonium hydroxide and iso‐propanol. A clear negative 8‐μm features pattern was obtained by contact‐printing and converted into the PI pattern upon heating at 250°C, confirming by scanning electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy.