IMPACT OF REDUCED RESIST THICKNESS ON DEEP-ULTRAVIOLET LITHOGRAPHY

Potential capabilities of a thinner resist process are verified from b oth points of view - lithography and etch processes. The experimental results for lines and spaces indicate that a larger gain in process wi ndow could absolutely go along with reduced resist thickness. It is fo und that the thinner resist process could successfully improve not onl y the optical proximity effect in lithography processes but also the m icroloading effect in etch processes. It is also demonstrated that an application of the thinner resist process would be useful to further e xtend advantages of higher numerical aperture exposure systems. The th inner resist process is found to be effective to improve the process w indow of contact holes. Moreover, a novel pattern transfer process cou ld be demonstrated using the practical limit of resolution capability up to k(1)=0.4. (C) 1996 American Vacuum Society.