Highly Transparent Chemically Amplified ArF Excimer Laser Resists by Absorption Band Shift for 193 nm Wavelength

Abstract

Naphthalene-containing chemically amplified resists for ArF excimer laser exposure are proposed, based on the concept of the absorption band shift by conjugation extension. Newly developed ArF excimer resists show a high transparency at 193 nm wavelength, a high sensitivity and a high contrast. The sensitivity of the resist is 150 mJ/cm 2 , which is 20 times greater than that of poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA). Furthermore, a 0.16 µ m pattern could be successfully fabricated by an ArF excimer laser stepper with 0.55 numerical aperture ( N A ) projection lens.