Survey of chemically amplified resist models and simulator algorithms

Ebo H. Croffie; Lei Yuan; Mosong Cheng; Andrew R. Neureuther

doi:10.1117/12.436823

24 August 2001 Survey of chemically amplified resist models and simulator algorithms

Ebo H. Croffie, Lei Yuan, Mosong Cheng, Andrew R. Neureuther

Proceedings Volume 4345, Advances in Resist Technology and Processing XVIII; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.436823
Event: 26th Annual International Symposium on Microlithography, 2001, Santa Clara, CA, United States

Abstract

Modeling has become indespensable tool for chemically amplified resist (CAR) evaluations. It has been used extensively to study acid diffusion and its effects on resist image formation. Several commercial and academic simulators have been developed for CAR process simulation. For commercial simulators such as PROLITH (Finle Technologies) and Solid-C (Sigma-C), the user is allowed to choose between an empirical model or a concentration dependant diffusion model. The empirical model is faster but not very accurate for 2-dimension resist simulations. In this case there is a trade off between the speed of the simulator and the accuracy of the results. An academic simulator such as STORM (U.C. Berkeley) gives the user a choice of different algorithms including Fast Imaging 2nd order finite difference algorithm and Moving Boundary finite element algorithm. A user interested in simulating the volume shrinkage and polymer stress effects during post exposure bake will need the Moving Boundary algorithm whereas a user interested in the latent image formation without polymer deformations will find the Fast Imaging algorithm more appropriate. The Fast Imaging algorithm is generally faster and requires less computer memory. This choice of algorithm presents a trade off between speed and level of detail in resist profile prediction. This paper surveys the different models and simulator algorithms available in the literature. Contributions in the field of CAR modeling including contributions to characterization of CAR exposure and post exposure bake (PEB) processes for different resist systems. Several numerical algorithms and their performances will also be discussed in this paper.

Citation Download Citation

Ebo H. Croffie, Lei Yuan, Mosong Cheng, and Andrew R. Neureuther "Survey of chemically amplified resist models and simulator algorithms", Proc. SPIE 4345, Advances in Resist Technology and Processing XVIII, (24 August 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.436823

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