Acid Diffusion Length Corresponding to Post Exposure Bake Time and Temperature

The post exposure bake (PEB) step in lithography is important for fabricating good patterns when a chemically amplified resist is used. Hydrogen ions or acid is generated by a photoacid generator through light exposure. The generated acid diffuses and acts as a catalyst for chemical amplification during the PEB step. Acid diffusion length (ADL) affects the deprotection of a resist polymer, such that linewidth is affected by ADL. The common parameter that determines ADL is the acid diffusion coefficient D; thus, we must determine D accurately in order to obtain the actual linewidth. However, D cannot be unambiguously determined for the actual PEB temperature and time. ADL has become a critical factor for 100 nm patterns and below. Thus, the accurate ADL determination becomes an important issue for better linewidth prediction by simulation. To match ADL and PEB time and temperature, we attempted to determine the relationship between the PEB parameters and ADL. As a result, we obtained a reasonable ADL.