Photoresist system and method
View Patent ↗A system and method for photoresists is provided. In an embodiment a photoresist is developed. Once developed, the photoresist is slimmed using either a direct slimming technique or an indirect slimming technique. In a direct slimming technique the slimming agent is either an alkaline solution or a polar solvent. In the indirect slimming technique a hydrophobic material is diffused into the photoresist to form a modified region and the modified region is then removed.
1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
developing a photoresist on a substrate; and
reducing a dimension of the photoresist with a liquid chemical after the developing the photoresist by applying an alkaline slimming agent that directly dissolves a portion of the photoresist.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alkaline slimming agent is a chemically reactive slimming agent.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alkaline slimming agent is tetramethylammonium hydroxide.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising controlling the rate of removal by controlling the pH of the alkaline slimming agent.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the controlling the pH of the alkaline slimming agent further comprises controlling the concentration of a base compound within the alkaline slimming agent.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alkaline slimming agent further comprises a surfactant.
7. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
developing a photoresist on a substrate with a negative tone developer; and
applying a liquid slimming agent to the photoresist after the developing the photoresist, wherein the liquid slimming agent directly dissolves a portion of the photoresist.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the liquid slimming agent is a chemically reactive compound.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the chemically reactive compound is an alkaline solution.
10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the negative tone developer has a first polarity and the slimming agent has a second polarity larger than the first polarity.
11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the slimming agent comprises an organic compound.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the organic compound comprises an alcohol or an amine.
13. The method of claim 7 , wherein the slimming agent modifies groups on the photoresist to cause the hydrophilicity of the photoresist to be reduced.
14. The method of claim 7 , wherein the liquid slimming agent comprises:
a first polar solvent; and
a second polar solvent different from the first polar solvent.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the negative tone developer has a first polarity and the first polar solvent has a second polarity larger than the first polarity.
16. The method of claim 7 , wherein the liquid slimming agent further comprises a surfactant.
17. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
applying a photoresist to a substrate;
exposing the photoresist to an energy;
developing the photoresist with a negative tone developer to form a patterned photoresist with a first width parallel to a major surface of the substrate;
removing the negative tone developer;
reducing the first width to a second width after the removing the negative tone developer without removing the entire patterned photoresist, wherein the reducing the first width is performed by applying a liquid slimming agent to the patterned photoresist and allowing the liquid slimming agent to diffuse into the patterned photoresist and react with a portion of the patterned photoresist to form a modified region, the modified region having a lower hydrophilicity than a remainder of the patterned photoresist; and
removing the modified region that has reacted with the liquid slimming agent without removing the remainder of the patterned photoresist.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the slimming agent comprises an organic compound.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the organic compound comprises carboxylic acid.