Computational Study of Organotin Oxide Systems for Extreme Ultraviolet Photoresist

With the advancement of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology, the demand for high-performance EUV photoresists has surged. Traditional photoresists struggle to meet the stringent requirements for increasingly smaller feature sizes in semiconductor manufacturing. Among emerging candidates, tin-based materials, particularly Sn₁₂-oxo photoresists, have shown promise due to their superior EUV light absorption properties. Modifying these clusters offers a potential pathway to tailoring their properties for specific lithographic applications. In this study, we investigate the relationship between the photosensitivity of experimentally synthesized Sn₁₂-oxo photoresists and their calculable parameters with quantum chemistry calculations. Key parameters such as bonding energies between metal atoms and organic ligands, molecular ionization potential, electrostatic potential, and HOMO-LUMO gap are identified as critical for predicting photosensitivity. While current research predominantly focuses on replacing counter-anions in Sn₁₂-oxo clusters, there is limited exploration of modifications through the replacement of organic ligands. We examined the effects of electron-withdrawing and electron-donating groups as ligands on the Sn₁₂-oxo cluster's ionization potential and Sn-ligand bonding energy. Our findings suggest a strategy for designing high-performance photoresists, thereby illuminating the path to discovering novel photoresist materials.