Distributions of hafnia and titania cores in EUV metal resists evaluated by scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy

The morphologies of hafnia (HfO x ) and titania (TiO x ) cores and their distributions in metal resists for EUV lithography were characterized at the atomic level by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). The HfO x cores show a higher affinity to organic components, such as methacrylic acid and benzoic acid, than the TiO x cores, and the same core–shell state as in a solution is almost completely maintained in the HfO x resist film. Furthermore, it was found that the surface modification of the TiO x cores by silylation is effective for preventing their aggregation and improves the postcoating delay (PCD) of the resist.