IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,578,645
Granted Patent B2
US 12,578,645 · App. 17/837,827 · Granted Mar 17, 2026

Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device

Inventors: Ching-Yu Chang (Yuansun Village, TW); An-Ren Zi (Hsinchu City, TW); Chin-Hsiang Lin (Hsinchu, TW)
Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
G03F7/168G03F7/11G03F7/325G03F7/38G03F7/70025H01L21/02118H01L21/02205H01L21/02274H01L21/0228H01L21/0275
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,578,645
App. No.
17/837,827
Filed
Jun 10, 2022
Granted
Mar 17, 2026
Kind
B2
Examiner
DIAZ, JOSE R
Art Unit
2815
USPC
438/780
Abstract

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a photoresist layer over a substrate and applying a base composition to the photoresist layer, the base composition includes non-organic base, organic base, thermal base generator, or photobase generator. The photoresist layer is selectively exposed to actinic radiation to form latent pattern. The latent pattern is developed by applying developer composition to selectively exposed photoresist layer to form pattern in photoresist layer. The base composition is applied to photoresist layer during one or more operations selected from group consisting of applying base composition to substrate as underlayer before photoresist layer is formed and the composition is subsequently absorbed by photoresist layer, a pre-exposure baking operation, after photoresist layer is selectively exposed and before developing latent pattern, and after developing latent pattern.

Claims (36)

1 . A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:

forming a photoresist layer over a substrate;

applying a base composition to the photoresist layer, wherein the base composition comprises a thermal base generator;

selectively exposing the photoresist layer to actinic radiation to form a latent pattern; and

developing the latent pattern by applying a developer composition to the selectively exposed photoresist layer to form a pattern in the photoresist layer,

wherein the base composition is applied to the photoresist layer during one or more operations selected from the group consisting of applying the base composition to the substrate as an underlayer before the photoresist layer is formed and the base composition is subsequently absorbed by the photoresist layer, a pre-exposure baking operation, after the photoresist layer is selectively exposed to actinic radiation and before the developing the latent pattern, and after the developing the latent pattern.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the photoresist layer is formed in a vacuum chamber and the base composition is applied to the photoresist layer in the vacuum chamber.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the base composition further comprises a photobase generator.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the base composition is applied to the photoresist layer during a post exposure baking operation or a cooling operation after the post exposure baking operation.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the photoresist layer is formed of a metallic resist, a negative resist, or a negative tone developed resist.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the base composition is a vapor or a gas when applied to the photoresist layer.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the base composition further comprises a non-organic base or an organic base.

8 . A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:

forming a photoresist layer over a substrate;

applying a base composition comprising a thermal base generator to the photoresist layer,

selectively exposing the photoresist layer to actinic radiation to form a latent pattern; and

developing the latent pattern by applying a developer composition to the selectively exposed photoresist layer to form a pattern in the photoresist layer,

wherein the base composition is applied as a liquid or a vapor during a pre-exposure baking operation, is applied as the liquid or vapor after the selectively exposing the photoresist layer to actinic radiation and before the developing the latent pattern, or is applied as the liquid or vapor after the developing the latent pattern.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the base composition further comprises a photobase generator.

10 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the base composition is applied to the photoresist layer during a post exposure baking operation or a cooling operation after the post exposure baking operation.

11 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the photoresist layer is formed of a metallic resist, a negative resist, or a negative tone developed resist.

12 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the base composition further comprises a non-organic base or an organic base.

13 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the base composition is applied in a vacuum chamber.

14 . A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:

forming a photoresist layer over a substrate,

wherein the photoresist layer is formed of a metallic resist, a negative resist, or a negative tone developed resist;

applying a base composition to the photoresist layer,

selectively exposing the photoresist layer to actinic radiation to form a latent pattern; and

developing the latent pattern by applying a developer composition to the selectively exposed photoresist layer to form a pattern in the photoresist layer,

wherein the base composition is applied in a gas phase after the photoresist layer is formed and before the developing the latent pattern, or is applied in the gas phase after the developing the latent pattern.

15 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the base composition is applied to the photoresist layer during a pre-exposure baking operation or a cooling operation after the pre-exposure baking operation.

16 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the base composition is applied to the photoresist layer after the exposing the photoresist layer to actinic radiation.

17 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the base composition is applied to the photoresist layer during a post exposure baking operation or a cooling operation after the post exposure baking operation.

18 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the base composition is applied in a vacuum chamber.

19 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the photoresist layer is formed in a vacuum chamber.

20 . The method according to claim 19 , wherein the base composition is applied in the vacuum chamber.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 10, 2022
From: CHANG, CHING-YU; ZI, AN-REN; LIN, CHIN-HSIANG
To: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
Reel/Frame 060171/0435 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63331389 · Apr 15, 2022
Related Publication 20230333477A1 · Oct 19, 2023
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