Towards high NA patterning readiness: materials, processes and etch transfer for P24 Line Space

The goal of this work is to prepare process readiness towards High NA EUV lithography, by using 0.33NA exposures on NXE3400B scanner. We focus on photoresists, underlayers and etch processes mitigation of P24nm Line Space patterns. Etch transfer has been validated for Metal Oxide Resist (MOR). Furthermore, we investigate challenges to accelerate Chemically Amplified Resist (CAR) P24nm Line Space processes. Also, here, promising patterning results have been achieved. Thin film metrology-friendly methods like Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) have been performed to characterize and improve the CAR-based etch processes.