Novel diamantane polymer platform for enhanced etch resistance

The dominant current 193 nm photoresist platform is based on adamantane derivatives. This paper reports on the use of derivatives of diamantane, the next higher homolog of adamantane, in the diamondoid series, as monomers in photoresists. Due to their low Ohnishi number and incremental structural parameter (ISP), such molecules are expected to enhance dry etch stability when incorporated into polymers for resist applications. Starting from the diamantane parent, cleavable and non-cleavable acrylate/methacrylate derivatives of diamantane were obtained using similar chemical steps as for adamantane derivatization. This paper reports on the lithographic and etch performance obtained with a number of diamantane-containing monomers, such as 9-hydroxy-4-diamantyl methacrylate (HDiMA), 2-ethyl-2- diamantyl methacrylate (EDiMA), and 2-methyl-2-diamantyl methacrylate (MDiMA). The etch advantage, dry and wet lithographic performance of some of the polymers obtained from these diamantane-containing polymers are discussed.