Enhancing the PMMA Photoresist Film via Ozone Treatment and Vapor Phase Infiltration

Achieving photoresists that combine low film thickness and high etch resistance while maintaining high resolution presents a challenging contradiction. Doping a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) film with metal oxide was demonstrated to provide better etch performance, but the line roughness was significantly scarified. Herein, we report an efficient PMMA surface treatment followed by vapor phase infiltration (VPI) for greatly improved deposition of hafnium oxide (HfOx). By treating PMMA with ozone and infiltrating it with tetrakis(dimethylamino)hafnium (TDMAH), a hybrid photoresist achieving 30 nm half-pitch (HP) resolution under extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) (74 mJ/cm2) with enhanced etch resistance (>120% improvement) and reduced line edge roughness (LER < 10 nm) was realized. This approach provides a viable solution for next-generation lithography by enabling thinner resists without compromising plasma etch resistance, which is critical for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

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Publication Details

Journal
ACS Applied Polymer Materials
Published
2025-05-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.5c01036
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Semiconductor materials and devices
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.19

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article

Enhancing the PMMA Photoresist Film via Ozone Treatment and Vapor Phase Infiltration

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ACS Applied Polymer Materials
Semiconductor materials and devices
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article

Enhancing the PMMA Photoresist Film via Ozone Treatment and Vapor Phase Infiltration

Miaojie Yu, Renzhong Tai, Yue Wu, Yisheng Xu, Nan Guan, Shijie Zhu, Weihong Zhu, Mingxi Wang, Yanqing Wu, Jun Zhao
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Achieving photoresists that combine low film thickness and high etch resistance while maintaining high resolution presents a challenging contradiction. Doping a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) film with metal oxide was demonstrated to provide better etch performance, but the line roughness was significantly scarified. Herein, we report an efficient PMMA surface treatment followed by vapor phase infiltration (VPI) for greatly improved deposition of hafnium oxide (HfOx). By treating PMMA with ozone and infiltrating it with tetrakis(dimethylamino)hafnium (TDMAH), a hybrid photoresist achieving 30 nm half-pitch (HP) resolution under extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) (74 mJ/cm2) with enhanced etch resistance (>120% improvement) and reduced line edge roughness (LER < 10 nm) was realized. This approach provides a viable solution for next-generation lithography by enabling thinner resists without compromising plasma etch resistance, which is critical for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

ACS Applied Polymer MaterialsVol. 7(10)
East China University of Science and Technology (CN), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (CN), Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (CN), Institute of Chemical Engineering (BG), State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Science and Technology Innovation Plan Of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission
Clean water and sanitation
Openalex Percentile: Top 12%
Semiconductor materials and devices
2.19
DOISourceOpenAlex
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