Oxygen Injection in Metal-Oxide Resist Post-Exposure Bake Revolutionizes Throughput – EEJournal

Key Takeaways

Imec demonstrates that elevated oxygen levels during post-exposure EUV lithography enhance metal-oxide resist performance.
The BEFORCE tool enables precise control of gas compositions, reducing EUV exposure doses and improving throughput.
Continued research aims to understand the chemical mechanisms that influence resist performance under varied conditions.

Innovative Gas Control Enhances EUV Lithography

At the 2026 SPIE Advanced Lithography + Patterning Conference, Imec revealed groundbreaking findings on how controlling gas composition, particularly oxygen levels, during EUV lithography post-exposure bake, significantly improves metal-oxide resist (MOR) performance. This advancement presents a pathway to reducing EUV exposure doses, thus enhancing wafer throughput.

Imec’s research found that a higher concentration of oxygen, specifically above atmospheric levels, leads to a marked improvement in MOR photo-speed—ranging between 15-20% faster—when used in the post-exposure bake phase. This is a critical step that follows EUV resist exposure and occurs prior to the development of the resist. This discovery highlights the potential of manipulating ambient conditions to achieve better lithographic results.

The unique BEFORCE tool developed by Imec was instrumental in these findings. It allows precise control over the ambient environment during critical processing steps, providing researchers the ability to analyze how these conditions impact MOR performance and stability. According to Kevin Dorney, R&D Team Lead at Imec, the ability to isolate the post-exposure bake from standard atmospheric conditions enables the identification of key environmental variables affecting the resist’s performance.

Further validation of MOR capabilities was observed with both model and commercial materials. Elevated oxygen levels during the bake process led to significant enhancements in the resist’s performance, demonstrating that environmental control can effectively minimize exposure dosage required in EUV lithography.

Continued investigation is crucial for fully understanding the chemical mechanisms at play during the post-exposure processes. Ongoing experiments are correlating MOR performance with chemical changes, utilizing an integrated Fourier transform infrared spectrometer to capture these alterations under various ambient conditions. A planned expansion of the BEFORCE tool with enhanced metrology features aims to deliver even more significant contributions to the field.

Overall, Imec’s work signals a promising direction for EUV lithography, enabling equipment manufacturers to optimize tool settings based on the presented findings, ultimately supporting better throughput and reduced processing costs. The key insights from this research are published in two papers at the conference, offering further details on these advancements.

The BEFORCE tool is a valuable resource; its capabilities extend to studying both MOR and chemically amplified resists (CARs), accessible to partners for resist evaluation. As researchers continue to examine these variables, the implications hold great potential for the future of semiconductor manufacturing and advanced lithography applications.

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