Modeling of novel resist technologies

In response to the difficulties posed by the resolution, line edge roughness, sensitivity (RLS) trade-off to traditional chemically amplified resist (CAR) systems used for extreme ultraviolet lithography, a number of novel resist technologies have been proposed. In this paper, the effect of quencher loading on three resist technologies is analyzed via an error propagation-based resist simulator. In order of increasing novelty as well as complexity, they are: conventional CAR with quencher, CAR with photodecomposable base, and PSCAR 2.0, a CAR system with photodecomposable base as well as an EUV-activated UV-sensitive resist component. Simulation finds the more complicated resist systems trade in an increase in resist stochastics for improved deprotection slopes, yielding a net benefit in terms of line width roughness.