Paper
10 April 2013 3D AFM method for characterization of resist effect of aerial image contrast on side wall roughness
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Abstract
We characterized the roughness and side wall morphology of lithographically produced nanostructures of resistmultilayer materials using the recently developed three-dimensional atomic force microscopy (3D-AFM), which has an independent Z scanner intentionally tilted to a certain angle access the sidewall. In order to produce different degrees of Line Edge Roughness (LER) in a given photoresist sample, we systematically varied the Aerial Image Contrast (AIC) at a constant dose for optically imaged resists. We describe herein the effects of AIC on KrF resists that were observed by using 3D-AFM and Critical Dimension-Scanning Electron Microscopy (CD-SEM). High-resolution sidewall images and line profiles obtained by the 3D-AFM technique demonstrate its advantages to characterize the shape and roughness of device patterns throughout the development and pattern transfer process. Taken together, we demonstrate that AFM imaging can identify a trend in Sidewall Roughness (SWR) as a function of AIC effects on photoresist sample, and CDSEM imaging provided supporting evidence to establish the LER trend.
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Yong-ha Lee, Sang-Joon Cho, Sang-il Park, R. Ayothi, and Y. Hishiro "3D AFM method for characterization of resist effect of aerial image contrast on side wall roughness", Proc. SPIE 8681, Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XXVII, 86812Y (10 April 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2013657
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KEYWORDS
Line edge roughness

Photoresist materials

Atomic force microscopy

Line width roughness

Scanning electron microscopy

3D image processing

3D scanning

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