Process latitude for the chemical amplification resists AZ PF514 and AZ PN114

The effect of process conditions on the performance of the chemically amplified radiation resists AZ PF514 (positive tone) and AZ PN114 (negative tone) has been examined for both X-ray and E-beam application. For the positive tone resist, it is found that mandatory atmospheric holding times for the catalytic reaction can be made redundant be the introduction of a post exposure bake at moderate temperature, yielding high exposure latitude, good linearity and a reduction of time-dependent effects. In particular, metal-ion free developers yield highly vertical resist sidewalls even for high overdoses. The sensitivity drift with increasing residence time in a vacuum (e.g. during E-beam exposure) may be counteracted by a simple DUV flood exposure which moreover may serve to control line shape and wall angle. Enhanced dry-etch stability and linearity may be obtained by means of an optimized DUV hardening process. The negative tone resist AZ PN114 is shown to be little sensitive to vacuum effects; thermal stability and dry etching properties are found to be superior. Results are presented for X-ray and shaped E-beam exposures.