Plasma etching of silylated photoresist: a study of mechanisms

We have studied the relevant parameters involved in the dry development of silylated polymers. In particular the influence of substrate temperature, ion energy, and atomic oxygen concentration is investigated. Critical dimension loss is demonstrated to depend upon silylation angle, sputtering rate of the silylated polymer, and development time. Anisotropic etch profiles are argued to be due to a compromise between critical dimension loss and isotropic etching of the unsilylated polymer. Improvements of the process are suggested.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.