Progress towards the measurement of acid generation in photoresist using photoactivation localization microscopy (PALM)

Friday, February 17, 2012 – 12:00pm
Reiss 261A
Adam Berro
Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, NIST

Measurement of the movement of molecules in polymer films is of growing interest in materials science. One of the most commercially important applications of such a measurement is in semiconductor device manufacturing. The fabrication of these devices involves coating the substrate with a photoresist, which upon exposure to ultraviolet light, generates strong acid molecules that subsequently diffuse in the polymer film, altering its solubility properties and allowing for the development of features. As feature sizes have decreased, the acid diffusion component has become an increasingly larger portion and limiting factor of the smallest dimensions that can be printed. In this talk, I will discuss the use of a super-resolution fluorescence microscopy technique utilizing photoactivation localization to obtain sub-diffraction limit resolution of acid location in polymer films and its application to measurement of acid movement in photoresist films.

Host: Jeff Urbach