Image Reversal Techniques With Standard Positive Photoresist

Abstract

The basic reaction of positive photoresist involves the conversion of the dissolution inhibitor (diazoketone) to a dissolution enhancer (carboxylic acid). The novolac-type resin is basically unchanged, but its solubility is controlled by the presence of either the dissolution inhibitor or enhancer. It has been demonstrated that the dissolution enhancer can be thermally degraded, and, under the proper conditions, this degradation can lead to the reversal of the resist image. It is, of course, imperative to optimize the developer selectivity and to capitalize on the specific characteristics of common positive resists to define a production-oriented image reversal process.**