Quarter-micron lithography with a wet-silylated and dry-developed commercial photoresist

Abstract
A positive-tone surface imaging process using wet silylation of the commercial photoresist AZ 5214ETM is presented; it is seen as a practical method to extend optical lithography down to 0.25 μm and to increase significantly the resolution limits of available steppers, without adding appreciable process complexity and cost. A comparative study is done using H-line, I-line, and deep ultraviolet at 248 nm lithography on different steppers. The resolution achieved corresponds to a k factor of 0.4 [i.e., 0.4λ/(numerical aperture)]. The importance of the dry-development step and the thermal effects associated with the heating of the wafer during etching are discussed.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: