Directly patterned inorganic hardmask for EUV lithography

This paper describes a metal oxide patternable hardmask designed for EUV lithography. The material has imaged 15-nm half-pitch by projection EUV exposure on the SEMATECH Berkeley MET, and 12-nm half-pitch by electron beam exposure. The platform is highly absorbing (16 μm -1 ) and etch resistant (>100:1 for silicon). These properties enable resist film thickness to be reduced to 20nm, thereby reducing aspect ratio and susceptibility to pattern collapse. New materials and processes show a path to improved photospeed. This paper also presents data for on coating uniformity, metal-impurity content, outgassing, pattern transfer, and resist strip.