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Accelerated Diffusion Following Deprotection in Chemically Amplified Resists
Christopher M Bottoms1, Gila E Stein1, Manolis Doxastakis1
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, United States.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B
|August 19, 2022
Summary
Chemically amplified resists (CARs) enable high-throughput lithography. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal how protecting group removal and material relaxation influence catalyst mobility, clarifying reaction kinetics in CARs.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Computational Chemistry
Background:
- Polymeric chemically amplified resists (CARs) are essential for advanced lithography.
- Reaction-diffusion models use catalyst diffusivity, but its microscopic origin is unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the microscopic factors affecting catalyst mobility in CARs.
- To understand the impact of deprotection and material relaxation on catalyst diffusion.
Main Methods:
- Atomistic molecular dynamics simulations.
- Analysis of polymer density, catalyst dispersion, free volume, and segmental dynamics.
- Development of kinetic Monte Carlo algorithms.
Main Results:
- Quantified changes in polymer properties and catalyst mobility during deprotection.
- Identified correlations between deprotection extent and catalyst diffusion.
- Validated simulation approach against experimental data.
Conclusions:
- Protecting group removal and material relaxation significantly impact catalyst mobility in CARs.
- Proposed kinetic Monte Carlo models accurately describe deprotection reactions and experimental observations.
- Provides a microscopic understanding to improve CAR performance in lithography.
