A New Development Model For Optical Lithography Simulation

ABSTRACT The effects of developer temperature on dissolution behavior for eight g-line and i-line resists, ranging from first-generation to state-of-the-art formulations, are characterized using development rate measurements. Using the RDA-790 development rate measurement tool, dissolution rates as a function of dose and depth into the resist were measured. Each data set was analyzed and the basic performance of rate versus photoactive compound (PAC) concentration was fit to appropriate models. The variation of these results with temperature of the developer solution has led to temperature-dependent characterization of the dissolution modeling parameters. Two such parameters, the maximum dissolution rate R max and the dissolution selectivity parameter n, are shown to exhibit an Arrhenius behavior with well defined activation energies