Further developments in surface imaging resists

At present one of the most promising production-worthy 193 nm resist approaches is a single layer, dry developed, surface imaging, silylation process. An evaluation of commercially available developmental resists shows excellent process versatility and lithographic performance. An evaluation of silylation conditions shows more versatility than previously demonstrated. No flow is seen in silylated features, leading to excellent dimensional control and edge profiles. Preliminary results indicate better than 0.18 μm resolution and linearity to 0.20 μm without the use of phase shift masks. Geometries of 0.1 μm have been demonstrated in a resist process which is available for evaluation of 0.20 μm devices processes as well as 256MB DRAM circuits.