Line-edge roughness increase due to wiggling enhanced by initial pattern waviness

To clarify whether pattern waviness due to line-edge-roughness enhances wiggling, distortion of straight and wavy patterns was numerically analyzed by the three-dimensional (3D) elastic finite element method. Wiggling occurs only in wavy patterns but not in straight patterns at a stress or aspect ratio much lower than their buckling thresholds. More severe wiggling occurs when the wavelength of initial waviness approaches a value that is 3.3 times the pattern height. These phenomena were experimentally confirmed in the etching of amorphous carbon with a SiON mask. We consider that precise etching without wiggling is achieved by the elimination of the original line-edge roughness and the reduction in mechanical stress in an underlying film to which the pattern is transferred.