Photoresist having strengthening material
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a photoresist layer over a substrate, exposing the photoresist layer to an EUV radiation, developing the photoresist layer to form a patterned photoresist, forming a coating layer on the patterned photoresist, and after forming the coating layer on the patterned photoresist, etching the substrate using a combination of the coating layer and the patterned photoresist as an etching mask.
1 . A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:
forming a photoresist layer over a substrate;
exposing the photoresist layer to an EUV radiation;
developing the photoresist layer to form a patterned photoresist;
forming a coating layer on the patterned photoresist and being in direct contact with the patterned photoresist, wherein the coating layer comprises a plurality of separated portions embedded in the patterned photoresist, the separated portions consist essentially of one or more metal oxides; and
after forming the coating layer on the patterned photoresist, etching the substrate primarily using a combination of the coating layer and the patterned photoresist as an etching mask.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the coating layer covers a surface of the patterned photoresist.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the coating layer fills pores in the patterned photoresist.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
during or after forming the coating layer on the patterned photoresist, exposing the combination of the coating layer and the patterned photoresist to an extreme ultra violet (EUV) radiation, a deep ultraviolet (DUV) radiation, an ultraviolet (UV) radiation, or a visible light.
5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
during or after forming the coating layer on the patterned photoresist, baking the combination of the coating layer and the patterned photoresist.
6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
during or after forming the coating layer on the patterned photoresist, performing a liquid treatment on the combination of the coating layer and the patterned photoresist.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the coating layer on the patterned photoresist is performed using a solution-coating method, a sol-gel process, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process, or an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the coating layer is in a gaseous state at room temperature.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the coating layer is made of a solution prepared by dissolving a chemical compound in an organic solvent or water.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the separated portions comprise a wavy profile when viewed from a cross-sectional view.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the photoresist layer over the substrate comprises forming the photoresist layer comprises a wavy profile when viewed from a cross-sectional view.
12 . A method, comprising:
forming a target layer on a substrate;
forming a patterned mask over the target layer, wherein the patterned mask is made of:
a metal-oxide based photoresist including a plurality of pores; and
a fill material filling into the plurality of pores of the metal-oxide based photoresist and being in direct contact with the metal-oxide based photoresist, wherein the fill material comprises separated portions inside the metal-oxide based photoresist,
the separated portions consist essentially of one or more metal oxides;
etching the target layer primarily using the patterned mask as an etch mask; and
removing the patterned mask.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the fill material comprises the metal oxides including R a Sn b O c R′ d X e , R a Ti b O c R′ d X e , R a Zr b O c R′ d X e , R a Hf b O c R′ d X e , R a Zn b O c R′ d X e , R a Al b O c R′ d X e or R a Cu b O c R′ d X e , R is a mono-dentate organic ligand or a multi-dentate organic ligand consisting of a branched, unbranched, or cyclic alkyl, alkene, alkyne, ketone, amide, carboxylic acid, aromatic ring, or a derivative thereof, substituted with a halogen group, R′ is an organic ligand consisting of a branched, unbranched, or cyclic alkyl, alkene, alkyne, ketone, amide, carboxylic acid, aromatic ring, or a derivative thereof, substituted with a halogen group or an H atom, X is a halide or a carboxylic anion, and a sum of a, c, d and e equals to a multiplied value obtained by multiplying b and an oxidation number of a metal of the metal oxides.
14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the fill material has molecules having a size smaller than each of the pores of the plurality of pores of the metal-oxide based photoresist.
15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the separated portions include a multilayer structure.
16 . A method, comprising:
forming a photoresist layer on a substrate;
patterning the photoresist layer into a patterned photoresist;
forming a photoresist-strengthening material on the patterned photoresist and being in direct contact with the patterned photoresist, wherein the photoresist-strengthening material comprises separated portions inside the photoresist layer, the separated portions consist essentially of one or more organometallic compounds;
performing a hardening treatment to harden the photoresist-strengthening material; and
after performing the hardening treatment, etching the substrate primarily using a combination of the hardened photoresist-strengthening material and the patterned photoresist as an etching mask.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the hardening treatment comprises baking the photoresist-strengthening material formed on the patterned photoresist.
18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the hardening treatment comprises performing a liquid treatment on the photoresist-strengthening material formed on the patterned photoresist.
19 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the photoresist-strengthening material is the organometallic compounds including R a Sn b X c , R a Ti b X c , R a Zr b X c , R a Hf b X c , R a Zn b X c , R a Al b X c or R a Cu b X c , R is a mono-dentate organic ligand or a multi-dentate organic ligand consisting of a branched, unbranched, or cyclic alkyl, alkene, alkyne, ketone, amide, carboxylic acid, aromatic ring, or a derivative thereof, substituted with a halogen group, X is an organic ligand consisting of a branched, unbranched, cyclic alkyl, alkene, alkyne, ketone, amide, carboxylic acid, aromatic ring, or a derivative thereof, substituted with a halogen group, an NR′ 2 , a halide, an SW, or an OR′, R′ consists of a branched, unbranched, or cyclic alkyl, alkene, alkyne, ketone, amide, carboxylic acid, aromatic ring, or a derivative thereof, substituted with a halogen group or an H atom, and a sum of a and c is equal to a multiplied value obtained by multiplying b and an oxidation number of a metal of the organometallic compounds.
20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the substrate comprises a semiconductor wafer, and forming the photoresist layer on the substrate comprises forming the photoresist layer in direct contact with the semiconductor wafer.