Influence of resin properties to resist performance at ArF lithography

The ArF resist has been evaluated focusing on resin character such as molecular weight, monomer composition and polydispersity (Pd). The resin properties were investigated to elucidate that which parameter was affected to the line edge roughness (LER). The Pd was correlated with LER. As the Pd was large, the LER was small. The resin molecular weight and monomer composition were affected to their vertical profile. Low molecular weight portion rich resin resulted in round and t-top profile, whilst high molecular weight rich resin resulted in square profile. The amount of lower molecular weight fraction was changed by purification method. The lower molecular weight resin caused severe tapered profile. It was concluded that 1) shift of Mw to smaller and 2) higher content of low molecular size fraction lead to rounded and tapered pattern profile. Lot-to-lot stable good pattern profile has achieved by controlling polymer molecular weight and content of low molecular size fraction in small variation range.