Modeling projection printing of positive photoresists

Abstract

The accompanying papers "Optical Lithography" and "Characterization of Positive Photoresist" introduce the concepts of modeling using destruction of the photoactive inhibitor compound to describe exposure and a surface-limited removal rate to describe development together with the optical exposure parameters A, B, and C and a rate relationship, R(M), which characterize the photoresist for modeling purposes. This paper applies the model to, the projection exposure environment: exposure and development of photoresist are treated with a simulation model that allows computation of image surface profiles for positive photoresist exposed with a diffraction limited real image.