Enhancing Performance and Function of Polymethacrylate Extreme Ultraviolet Resists Using Area-Selective Deposition

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is a critical enabler in next-generation technology, although the low etch resistance of conventional organic EUV resists results in low resolution pattern transfer, particularly for smaller features. In this work, we integrate area-selective deposition (ASD), a bottom-up nanopatterning technique, with EUV resists of industrially relevant thicknesses (<50 nm thick) to form resist hardening or tone inverting layers for improved resolution. We utilize TiO2 ASD via atomic layer deposition on 25–35 nm thin photosensitive polymethacrylate-based EUV materials. By tuning the polymer structure and functionality, we enable different scenarios for selective deposition on top of the resist, infiltrated into the bulk resist, or selective to the resist. We find that a cyclohexyl protecting group causes TiO2 inhibition, thus showing promise for tone inversion applications with oxide underlayers. In contrast, resist materials containing a tert-butyl protecting group are good candidates for resist hardening because they enable TiO2 deposition on both EUV exposed and unexposed polymers. Furthermore, we report the integration of a dimethylamino-trimethylsilane inhibitor with the resists to inhibit TiO2 surface nucleation and facilitate subsurface diffusion, thus further broadening potential applications. The results described here establish an important baseline for utilizing ASD on various organic resists to achieve tone inversion or resist hardening and hence improve EUV pattern resolution.