PEB to development delay influence on contact patterning by negative tone development process

Negative tone development (NTD) process benefits the process latitude of dark field features such as contact holes and isolated trenches. Thus the NTD process has been a viable manufacture solution for aggressive-pitch contact patterning. Because the NTD process adopts organic solvent as developer to dissolve the de-protected photo-resist, it may conflict with conventional positive tone development on maximizing the photocell utilization. In the manufacturing implementation of NTD process, the off-line development is the most commonly adopted arrangement to maximize the flexibility of photocell dispatch. Therefore the post exposure bake to development delay (PEBDD) is a concern for thorough investigation to deliver robust NTD process. In this paper, PEBDD induced CD shrinkage was investigated for contact printing to explore the possible mechanism. The resist comparison, ambient contamination verification, baking temperature split of photo-resists were conducted for comparing the PEBDD effect. The experimental results suggested the photo acid concentration and photo acid diffusion are two most critical factors for PEBDD effect. Through the understanding of critical factors for PEBDD, the suitable operation on mitigating PEBDD influence as well as adequate queue time setting were proposed for robust process control.