Multinuclear Tin-Based Macrocyclic Organometallic Resist for EUV Photolithography

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Chemistry

Background:

• Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography is crucial for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
• Developing high-performance photoresists with improved resolution, sensitivity, and line-edge roughness (LER) is essential for next-generation microchips.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and characterize a new photoresist material based on a multinuclear tin-based macrocyclic complex.
• To evaluate the performance of this novel photoresist in EUV photolithography.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis and characterization of the tin-based macrocyclic complex using multinuclear nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), FT-IR, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction.
• Assessment of material properties including humidity, air, and thermal stability, and photochemical reactivity.
• EUV photolithography experiments on thin films, followed by analysis of line-edge roughness (LER) and calculation of the Z-factor.

Main Results:

• The photoresist, featuring a trinuclear macrocyclic structure, showed good stability and photochemical reactivity.
• Photochemical cross-linking was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron and solid-state NMR spectroscopy.
• EUV lithography achieved a 20 nm half-pitch pattern with an LER of 1.1 nm, and a Z-factor of 1.28 × 10^-8 mJ·nm³.

Conclusions:

• The developed tin-based photoresist exhibits promising performance for EUV photolithography.
• Its properties, including resolution and LER, are competitive with existing EUV photoresists.
• This material represents a significant advancement in photoresist technology for semiconductor fabrication.