HIGHLY TRANSPARENT CHEMICALLY AMPLIFIED ARF EXCIMER-LASER RESISTS BY ABSORPTION-BAND SHIFT FOR 193 NM WAVELENGTH

Naphthalene-containing chemically amplified resists for ArF excimer la ser exposure are proposed, based on the concept of the absorption band shift by conjugation extension. Newly developed ArF excimer resists s how a high transparency at 193 nm wavelength, a high sensitivity and a high contrast. The sensitivity of the resist is 150 mJ/cm(2), which i s 20 times greater than that of poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA). Furth ermore, a 0.16 mu m pattern could be successfully fabricated by an ArF excimer laser stepper with 0.55 numerical aperture (NA) projection le ns.