Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is pivotal in advancing semiconductor technology by drastically reducing device dimensions and enabling the continuation of Moore's Law. However, the full potential of EUV lithography is constrained by conventional solution-based wet processing methods, which hinder further minimization of feature sizes. To unlock the next generation of semiconductor fabrication, there is an urgent need for dry development technology that addresses the environmental and performance limitations of traditional wet methods. Here, we introduce an etchant-free, dry-developable EUV photoresist composed of small molecules, utilizing N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) metal-ligand complexes. Our photoresists exhibit exceptional EUV sensitivity, achieving half-saturation with only 8.5 or 27mJ/cm². These materials feature dry development capability through a simple thermal treatment, termed thermal development, for the removal of unexposed photoresist areas. This innovative material allows for a 80nm resolution via thermal development, demonstrating their potential for high-resolution patterning at low dosages and the realization of dry-developed nanopatterns
The semiconductor industry is currently transitioning to advanced extreme-ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) to address the challenges facing the use of photolithography in microprocessor and memory chip integration. This shift has sparked a surge in novel inorganic EUV photoresist research. However, several technical issues, such as insufficient EUV sensitivity, poor understanding of the photochemistry, and poor stability, have emerged. Here, we synthesized [(BuSn)12O14(OH)6](CH3C6H4SO3)2 (TinTos) as a standard EUV photoresist. Chemical analysis (PXRD, NMR) was performed to confirm that the synthesized TinTos was well reproduced. As a result of EUV exposure, TinTos showed low sensitivity compared to the dose required in industry (<50 mJ/cm2). However, no enhancement in the DUV sensitivity was observed for TinTos after PEB. Consequently, we anticipate less time-dependent behavior of TinTos.
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