Electrical conductivity measurement for quantitative evaluation of development speed of a photoresist

In a previous article, we reported on the possibility of predicting the dev elopment speed of a photoresist by measuring its electrical conductivity in an organic solvent [T. Takeda and M. Saka, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B (submit ted)]. The electrical conductivity of the organic solution of a photoresist base polymer at various frequencies was found to have a positive correlati on with the dissolution speed of photoresist base polymers into an alkaline developer. In addition, the influence of the measurement temperature and t he concentration of polymer solution on conductivity was investigated. Base d on the collected data, this article derives the calibration equation, whi ch was influenced neither by measurement temperature nor by the concentrati on of the solution. (C) 1998 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-211X(98)19906- 7].