EUV lithography is the leading candidate for the 22 nm lithography node. The primary goal of EUV resists is to simultaneously improve resolution, line-edge roughness, and sensitivity. We predict that the best way to meet this goal is to create more acid molecules per absorbed photon and that acid amplifies (AAs) can achieve this. Acid amplifiers are compounds that decompose in the presence of acid to generate more acid. We synthesized and measured the decomposition rates of twelve new AAs in the presence and absence of added base. In the presence of base, AAs decompose via first-order kinetics. In the absence of base, six AAs with tertiary-carbon-oxygen bonds (Body-1) decompose autocatalytically but six AAs with secondary-carbon-oxygen bonds (Body-2) decompose via first-order kinetics. Although Body-2 AAs do not decompose autocatalytically, nonaflate acid dose catalyze their decomposition.

Fluorinated acid amplifiers improve high resolution imaging

240th National Meeting (2010)

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