CN111063610B - Photoetching defect repairing method - Google Patents

Photoetching defect repairing method Download PDF

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CN111063610B
CN111063610B CN201911398917.0A CN201911398917A CN111063610B CN 111063610 B CN111063610 B CN 111063610B CN 201911398917 A CN201911398917 A CN 201911398917A CN 111063610 B CN111063610 B CN 111063610B
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defect
layer
filling
patterned photoresist
photoresist layer
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CN111063610A (en
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伍强
李艳丽
杨渝书
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Shanghai IC R&D Center Co Ltd
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Shanghai IC R&D Center Co Ltd
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    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01LSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/027Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34
    • H01L21/0271Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34 comprising organic layers
    • H01L21/0273Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34 comprising organic layers characterised by the treatment of photoresist layers
    • H01L21/0274Photolithographic processes
    • H01L21/0276Photolithographic processes using an anti-reflective coating
    • GPHYSICS
    • G03PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03FPHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
    • G03F1/00Originals for photomechanical production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g., masks, photo-masks, reticles; Mask blanks or pellicles therefor; Containers specially adapted therefor; Preparation thereof
    • G03F1/68Preparation processes not covered by groups G03F1/20 - G03F1/50
    • G03F1/72Repair or correction of mask defects
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01LSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/027Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34
    • H01L21/033Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34 comprising inorganic layers
    • H01L21/0334Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34 comprising inorganic layers characterised by their size, orientation, disposition, behaviour, shape, in horizontal or vertical plane
    • H01L21/0337Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34 comprising inorganic layers characterised by their size, orientation, disposition, behaviour, shape, in horizontal or vertical plane characterised by the process involved to create the mask, e.g. lift-off masks, sidewalls, or to modify the mask, e.g. pre-treatment, post-treatment

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Photosensitive Polymer And Photoresist Processing (AREA)

Abstract

The invention provides a photoetching defect repairing method, namely a filling material and a cosolvent are covered on a patterned photoresist layer and a hard mask layer, the cosolvent has adsorption effects on hydrophilic parts and hydrophobic parts of broken line defects and crack defects in the photoetching defects and partially deprotected slit defects in the photoresist, and the filling material can be adsorbed on the photoetching defects by means of the cosolvent to fill the photoetching defects, so that the photoetching defects can be repaired before a subsequent etching process.

Description

Photoetching defect repairing method
Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of integrated circuits, in particular to a photoetching defect repairing method.
Background
As integration density continues to increase in the semiconductor industry, photolithographic masks must project increasingly smaller structures onto a wafer. To meet this requirement, exposure wavelengths of lithography systems have been replaced with smaller and smaller wavelengths. The lithography system will use significantly smaller wavelengths in the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) wavelength range.
13.5nm extreme ultraviolet lithography has an absorbed photon energy of 92eV, which is about 14 times greater than the 193nm photon energy of 6.4eV, and the same illumination dose photon count is only 1/14 of 193 nm. Due to fluctuations in the number of photons, defects can be caused by too small a line width of the trench (bridging is likely to occur) or too large a line width (wire breakage defect or crack defect is likely to occur) in photolithography. And the generated defects can affect the transfer of patterns in the subsequent etching process.
Therefore, it is important to solve the problem of the lithography defect occurring in the lithography process, especially in the extreme ultraviolet lithography process.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a photoetching defect repairing method for solving the problem of photoetching defects in a photoetching process.
In order to solve the technical problems, the invention provides a photoetching defect repairing method, which comprises the following steps:
providing a semiconductor structure, wherein the semiconductor structure comprises a substrate, a hard mask layer positioned above the substrate and a patterned photoresist layer positioned above the hard mask layer, and the patterned photoresist layer has a photoetching defect;
covering a filling material and a cosolvent on the patterned photoresist layer and the hard mask layer, wherein the filling material is preferentially adsorbed to the photoetching defect by means of the cosolvent so as to form a filling layer;
removing the redundant filling layer to form a patterned photoresist layer after the photoetching defect is repaired;
and etching the hard mask layer by taking the repaired patterned photoresist layer as a mask to form a patterned hard mask layer.
Optionally, in the method for repairing a lithography defect, the method for forming the patterned photoresist layer includes extreme ultraviolet lithography.
Optionally, in the method for repairing a lithography defect, the lithography defect includes at least one of a bridging defect, a wire breakage defect and a gap defect; and rotating the substrate in the process of covering the filling material and the cosolvent on the patterned photoresist layer and the hard mask layer, so that the filling material is preferentially adsorbed on the photoetching defect by the aid of the cosolvent.
Optionally, in the method for repairing a lithography defect, the filling material includes a surfactant, and the surfactant includes a hydrophilic surfactant, the hydrophilic surfactant is dissolved in an alkaline aqueous solution and also dissolved in an organic solvent with partial polarity, and the dissolution rate of the hydrophilic surfactant in the organic solvent is greater than the dissolution rate of the hydrophilic surfactant in the alkaline aqueous solution.
Optionally, in the method for repairing a lithography defect, the filling material further includes a small molecular substance, and when the lithography defect includes a broken line defect and/or a slit defect, a diameter of the small molecular substance is smaller than a width of the broken line defect and the slit defect.
Optionally, in the method for repairing a lithography defect, the small molecular substance includes a polymer having at least one structure of a benzene ring, an aliphatic ring, and an aromatic heterocycle.
Optionally, in the method for repairing a lithography defect, before the step of covering the filler material and the cosolvent, the method further comprises adding a number of small molecular structures in a surfactant, wherein the small molecular structures comprise at least one of benzene rings, aliphatic rings and aromatic heterocyclic rings, so that the dissolution rate of the surfactant in the organic solvent is greater than the dissolution rate in the alkaline aqueous solution.
Optionally, in the method for repairing a lithography defect, when the lithography defect includes a bridge defect, before the step of etching the hard mask layer, removing the bridge defect to disconnect the photoresist patterns connected to the bridge defect from each other.
Optionally, in the method for repairing a lithography defect, after the step of removing the redundant filling layer, the method further includes the following steps:
baking the filling layer to crosslink the filling material in the filling layer;
and removing the redundant crosslinked filling layer.
Optionally, in the method for repairing a lithography defect, the etching resistance of the crosslinked filling layer is matched with the etching resistance of the patterned photoresist layer.
In summary, the present invention provides a method for repairing a lithography defect, in which a filling material and a cosolvent are covered on the patterned photoresist layer and the hard mask layer, the cosolvent has an adsorption effect on hydrophilic parts and hydrophobic parts of broken line defects and crack defects in the lithography defect and on crack defects that are partially deprotected inside the photoresist, and the filling material can be adsorbed on the lithography defect by means of the cosolvent, so that filling of the lithography defect, i.e., repairing of the lithography defect, can be achieved before a subsequent etching process.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a bridging defect structure;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a broken wire defect structure;
FIG. 3 is a scan of the bridging defect of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a scan of the break line defect of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between CD values and the likelihood of occurrence of a lithographic defect;
FIGS. 6-11 are schematic structural views illustrating steps of a method for repairing a broken wire defect and/or a slit defect according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 12-17 are schematic structural diagrams illustrating steps of a repairing method for bridging defects according to an embodiment of the present invention;
in fig. 1 to 5, wherein:
01-substrate, 02-patterned photoresist layer, 0201-bridging defect, 0202-wire breakage defect;
fig. 6 to 17:
10-substrate, 20-hard mask layer, 201-patterned hard mask layer, 30-patterned photoresist layer, 301-lithography defect, 40-filler material, 401-crosslinked filler layer, 50-cosolvent.
Detailed Description
13.5nm extreme ultraviolet lithography has an absorbed photon energy of 92eV, which is about 14 times greater than the 193nm photon energy of 6.4eV, and the same illumination dose photon count is only 1/14 of 193 nm. Due to the fluctuation of the photon number, too small or too large a line width of the trench in the lithography may cause a lithography defect, and the lithography defect may be a bridging defect 0201 (see fig. 1 and 3), a disconnection defect 0202 (see fig. 2 and 4), or a crack defect. For example, a photoresist layer is formed on a substrate 01, and then a patterned photoresist layer 02 satisfying process requirements is formed through an extreme ultraviolet lithography process. When the line width of the trench in the patterned photoresist layer 02 is smaller than 20nm, bridging defect 0201 is easy to occur in the photoresist, that is, a little photoresist remains at the bottom of the trench, and the remaining photoresist is perpendicular to the cross section of the trench line. Referring to fig. 5, it can be found that the smaller the line width of the groove (the smaller the corresponding average CD value, a represents the smaller end of the average CD value, B represents the larger end of the average CD value), the greater the probability of occurrence of the bridging defect 0201 (X represents the probability trend line of occurrence of bridging defect, and the ordinate increases from bottom to top with random photolithography defect probability), that is, the smaller the line width of the groove, the more likely bridging defect 0201 occurs. When the pattern is formedWhen the line width of the groove in the photoresist layer 02 is large, the photoresist is easy to have a broken line defect or a crack defect, namely, the broken line defect or the crack defect is easy to occur on the groove line, and the broken line defect and the crack defect are along the section of the groove line. With continued reference to FIG. 5, Y represents the occurrence of a line break defect density trend line (ordinate from bottom to top in cm) 2 The greater the trench linewidth (corresponding to a greater average CD value), the greater the likelihood of line break defects. The line break defect or crack defect is generally only 1 nm-10 nm, and is transferred through the hard mask layer, for example, polysilicon, a silicon-containing anti-reflection layer and other materials can still reach about 1-5 nm to form a defect, so that the transfer of patterns in the subsequent etching process can be influenced by the photoetching defect formed in the photoetching process of the photoresist. Therefore, it is important to solve the problem of the photolithography defect occurring in the photolithography process, especially in the extreme ultraviolet photolithography process.
In order to solve the problem of the photoetching defects in the photoetching process, particularly in the extreme ultraviolet photoetching process, the invention provides a photoetching defect repairing method.
The photoetching defect repairing method comprises the following steps:
firstly, providing a semiconductor structure, wherein the semiconductor structure comprises a substrate, a hard mask layer positioned above the substrate and a patterned photoresist layer positioned above the hard mask layer, and the patterned photoresist layer has photoetching defects;
secondly, covering filling materials and cosolvent on the patterned photoresist layer and the hard mask layer, wherein the filling materials are preferentially adsorbed to the photoetching defect by means of the cosolvent so as to form a filling layer;
then, removing the redundant filling layer to form a patterned photoresist layer after the photoetching defect is repaired;
and finally, etching the hard mask layer by taking the repaired patterned photoresist layer as a mask to form a patterned hard mask layer.
Referring to fig. 6, a semiconductor structure is first provided and includes a substrate 10, a hard mask layer 20 over the substrate 10, and a patterned photoresist layer 30 over the hard mask layer 20, the patterned photoresist layer 30 having a photolithographic defect 301. The substrate 10 may be a silicon substrate, a substrate made of other semiconductor materials, or a substrate having a semiconductor structure layer, and may be any substrate without limitation. Then, a hard mask layer 20 is formed on the substrate 10, and a method of forming the hard mask layer 20 includes deposition, spin coating, sputtering, or the like, and may be any method of forming a thin film structure. The hard mask layer 20 may be made of a material different from the substrate 10, and preferably is made of a hydrophobic material, such as hydrophobic polysilicon or a silicon-containing anti-reflective layer. A photoresist layer is formed over the hard mask layer 20 and is lithographically patterned to form a patterned photoresist layer 30, preferably EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography. The patterned photoresist layer 30 has a photoresist defect 301, and the photoresist defect 301 is a defect generated in the photoresist layer during the photolithography process. The patterned photoresist layer 30 has trenches therein, and the formed lithography defects 301 may be different according to the line widths of the trenches. When the line width of the trench is large (> 20 nm), the lithography defect 301 mainly occurring on the patterned photoresist layer 30 includes a crack defect and/or a line break defect. When the line width of the trench is less than 20nm, photoresist is easily remained at the bottom of the trench in the patterned photoresist layer 30, so as to form a bridging defect, that is, the bridging defect is mainly a bridging defect. In addition, during the formation of the photoresist layer and the photolithography of the photoresist layer, a partially deprotected micro-gap may also occur inside the photoresist. The line width of the grooves in the patterned photoresist layer 30 may be adjusted according to the process requirements, and the line widths of the grooves may be the same or different, so that the above-mentioned photolithography defects 301 may occur separately or simultaneously.
When a line break defect and/or a gap defect (including a crack defect and/or a partially deprotected gap defect inside the photoresist) exists on the patterned photoresist layer 30, the repair method of the line break defect and/or the gap defect is described with reference to fig. 7 to 11.
Referring to fig. 7, the patterned photoresist layer 30 and the hard mask layer 20 are first covered with a filling material 40 and a cosolvent 50, where the filling material 40 is preferentially adsorbed at the lithography defect 301 by means of the cosolvent 50, so as to form a filling layer. Methods of covering the photoresist layer 30 and the hard mask layer 20 with the fill material 40 and the co-solvent 50 include spin coating and aerosol spraying. While covering the filler material 40 and the co-solvent 50, the substrate 10 may be rotated such that the filler material 40 is preferentially adsorbed in the wire break defect and/or the slit defect by the co-solvent 50 to form the filler layer. The upper surface of the filling layer is not lower than the upper surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30, and the filling material 40 and the cosolvent 50 fill the line-breaking defects and/or gap defects in the patterned photoresist layer 30.
The filler material 40 may be a surfactant, which may be in a liquid or gaseous state, preferably in a liquid state. The surfactant is preferably a hydrophilic surfactant, and the hydrophilic surfactant is dissolved in an alkaline aqueous solution and also dissolved in an organic solvent with partial polarity, such as propylene glycol methyl ether acetate, propylene glycol methyl ether, ethanol or propanol, etc. Preferably, the dissolution rate of the surfactant in the organic solvent is greater than the dissolution rate in the alkaline aqueous solution. In order to make the solubility of the surfactant in the organic solvent greater than that in the basic aqueous solution, a surfactant having at least one structure of a benzene ring, an aliphatic ring, or an aromatic heterocyclic ring may be directly selected, or the number of small molecular structures including at least one of a benzene ring, an aliphatic ring, and an aromatic heterocyclic ring may be increased in the surfactant before the step of covering the filler material 40 and the cosolvent 50. Preferably, the diameter size of the small molecular structure is smaller than the width of the broken line defect and the gap defect.
And the hydrophilic ability of the surfactant is preferably matched to the hydrophilic ability of the hydrophilic portions of the break line defect and the crack defect so that the surfactant is adsorbed to the hydrophilic portions of the break line defect and the crack defect in the patterned photoresist layer 30 as much as possible. The photoresist is hydrophobic, but after exposure, the exposed portions become hydrophilic, so that the photoresist in the exposed portions can be rinsed off by an aqueous developer. The photoresist at the positions of the broken line defect and the crack defect is also partially exposed, and the interface between the exposed photoresist and air is hydrophilic, namely the hydrophilic part in the broken line defect and the crack defect in the patterned photoresist layer 30. But the crack defect and the wire break defect are more difficult to be exposed at a position closer to the inside of the photoresist (may also be described as a position further from the surface of the photoresist), and the interface of the photoresist and air exposed at the unexposed portion exhibits hydrophobicity, and thus the crack defect and the wire break defect include a hydrophilic portion and a hydrophobic portion. The hydrophilic surfactant can be adsorbed to the hydrophilic parts of the broken line defect and the crack defect, but cannot be adsorbed to the hydrophobic parts of the broken line defect and the crack defect, so that the adsorption force of the surfactant on the interface (comprising the hydrophilic parts and the hydrophobic parts) of the photoresist and the air exposed in the broken line defect and the crack defect is not large, and the photoresist and the air are easy to fall off. And the partially deprotected slit defects inside the photoresist are not exposed, and thus are also hydrophobic, while hydrophilic surfactants cannot be adsorbed into the partially deprotected slit defects inside the photoresist. In this embodiment, the cosolvent 50 is added to the filling material 40, and the cosolvent 50 may be alcohols, phenols or esters, for example propylene glycol methyl ether acetate (PGMEA for short), and the cosolvent 50 may be adsorbed to the hydrophobic portion or the hydrophilic portion, so that the broken line defect, the crack defect and the partially deprotected slit defect inside the photoresist are better filled, and the molecular force of the cosolvent 50 is also very high, and the adsorption force of the cosolvent 50 to the hydrophilic portion and the hydrophobic portion is very high, so that the surfactant and the cosolvent adsorbed to the broken line defect and the slit defect (including the crack defect and the partially deprotected slit defect inside the photoresist) are not easy to fall off.
The co-solvent 50 coats the molecules of the surfactant, and when the molecular diameter of the surfactant is smaller than the width of the lithography defect, the co-solvent 50 coating the molecules of the surfactant is adsorbed to the lithography defect, namely to the broken line defect and the crack defect, including the hydrophilic part and the hydrophobic part of the broken line defect and the crack defect, and is also adsorbed to the partially deprotected crack defect inside the photoresist, namely the molecules of the surfactant can be adsorbed to the broken line defect and/or the crack defect by the aid of the co-solvent 50. And by rotating the substrate 10, the surfactant may preferentially adsorb to the broken line defect and/or the gap defect by using the cosolvent 50, so that the broken line defect and/or the gap defect is better filled. At the same time, molecules of the hydrophilic surfactant not coated with the co-solvent 50 may also adsorb to hydrophilic portions of the crack defect and/or the break defect.
The filling material may further include a small molecular substance, that is, the surfactant, the cosolvent 50, and the small molecular substance together cover the patterned photoresist layer 30 and the hard mask layer 20, in addition to the surfactant, and the small molecular substance and the surfactant may be adsorbed at the lithography defect 301 of the patterned photoresist layer 30 by means of the cosolvent. The small molecular substance is soluble in the cosolvent 50, preferably a polymer having at least one structure of a benzene ring, an aliphatic ring, and an aromatic heterocyclic ring, and has a diameter smaller than the widths of the broken line defect and the slit defect, i.e., the small molecular substance has a diameter smaller than the widths of the broken line defect or the slit defect if the photolithography defect includes only the broken line defect or the slit defect, and has a diameter smaller than the widths of the broken line defect and the slit defect if the photolithography defect includes both the broken line defect and the slit defect. In this case, however, the diameter of the molecules of the surfactant is not limited. The surfactant is preferably a hydrophilic surfactant, the hydrophilic surfactant can be adsorbed on hydrophilic parts of the crack defect and the broken line defect, the cosolvent 50 can coat the small molecular substances to be adsorbed in the crack defect and the broken line defect (comprising a hydrophobic part and a hydrophilic part) and can be adsorbed in the partially deprotected crack defect in the photoresist, so that the crack defect, the broken line defect and the partially deprotected crack defect in the photoresist can be better filled.
The filling material 40 may also be only a small molecular substance, i.e. the co-solvent 50 and the small molecular substance together cover the patterned photoresist layer 30 and the hard mask layer 20, and the small molecular substance may be adsorbed at the lithography defect 301 of the patterned photoresist layer 30 by means of the co-solvent. The small molecular substance has hydrophilicity and is dissolved in the cosolvent, preferably a polymer with at least one structure of benzene ring, aliphatic ring and aromatic heterocycle, and the diameter of the small molecular substance is smaller than the width of the broken line defect and the gap defect.
The filling material selected in this embodiment can be self-crosslinked at a proper temperature, for example, 20-250 ℃, or can be crosslinked with the photoresist surface, so that before the patterned photoresist layer after the subsequent repair is used as a mask to etch the hard mask layer 20, the filling layer formed by baking can be selected at the proper temperature, so as to increase the filling effect of the photoresist defect, and enhance the etching resistance of the photoresist defect, even the whole photoresist layer. In other embodiments of the present invention, some filling materials with stronger self-etching resistance may be selected, so as to omit the operation of cross-linking the filling layer by baking before the patterned photoresist layer after the subsequent repair is used as a mask to etch the hard mask layer 20, and ensure that the lithography defect 301 in the photoresist layer is not transferred into the hard mask layer 20 during the process of etching the hard mask layer 20 with the patterned photoresist layer 30 after the repair as a mask.
Referring to fig. 8, after the step of forming the filling layer, the excess filling layer, i.e., the filling material and the co-solvent 50 in the upper surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30 and the trenches, is removed. The method of removal includes rinsing, the rinsed reagent including deionized water, i.e., multiple rinsing may be used to remove excess filler material and co-solvent 50. After rinsing and spin-drying, the patterned photoresist layer 30 is observed with an electron microscope to determine whether or not to continue rinsing. When it is observed that the pattern of the patterned photoresist layer 30 is not affected by the filling material 40 and the cosolvent 50 on the surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30 and in the trenches (where trace amounts of filling material and cosolvent still remain on the surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30 and in the trenches), the cleaning process can be fixed, and if more active agent remains in the trenches, the rinsing time in the cleaning process can be further increased. The number and time of the rinsing needs to be adjusted according to the trench size in the patterned photoresist 30, and the smaller the trench size, the longer the rinsing time is required, and the more the rinsing times are. In this process, the filling material and the cosolvent on the upper surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30 protect the filling material and the cosolvent in the line break defect and the gap defect, and thus the filling material and the cosolvent in the line break defect and the gap defect are not affected by the rinse.
The step of removing the redundant filling layer not only comprises the step of removing the redundant filling layer by adopting a flushing method, but also can further remove the filling layer by adopting a residual etching removing method after the step of flushing and spin-drying. When the self-etching resistance of the filling material 40 in the filling layer is matched with the etching resistance of the patterned photoresist layer 30, i.e. the self-etching resistance of the filling material 40 is similar to (or close to) the etching resistance of the patterned photoresist layer 30, the step of rinsing and spin-drying may be directly followed by removing the residual etching, so as to further remove the redundant filling layer (i.e. the trace filling material and the cosolvent still remained on the surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30 and in the trench after the step of rinsing and spin-drying), and finally only the filling material 40 and the cosolvent 50 in the photoresist defect 301 are remained, thereby forming the patterned photoresist layer after the photoresist defect 301 is repaired. Therefore, the step of removing the redundant filling layer comprises the steps of washing and spin-drying, and the step of removing residual etching. In order to improve the etching resistance of the filling material 40 in the filling layer, so that the etching resistance of the filling material 40 is matched with the etching resistance of the patterned photoresist layer 30, the etching resistance of the filling material 40, i.e. the etching resistance of the filling layer, can be controlled by increasing the small molecular structure in the filling material 40, i.e. by controlling the type and the addition amount of the small molecular structure. The small molecular structure comprises at least one of benzene ring, aliphatic ring and aromatic heterocycle. For example, when the fill material 40 includes a surfactant, the surfactant may be selected to have a small molecular structure directly or may be modified to link the small molecular structure prior to the step of covering the fill material 40 and the co-solvent 50 on the patterned photoresist layer 30 and the hard mask layer 20. When the filling material 40 further includes a small molecular substance, in addition to enhancing the etching resistance of the filling layer by increasing the etching resistance of the surfactant, the etching resistance of the filling layer may be increased by adjusting the small molecular substance, for example, the small molecular substance may select a material having relatively strong etching resistance, for example, a benzene ring. Alicyclic rings or aromatic heterocyclic rings, and the like.
The method for removing residual etching is preferably plasma etching. The fill material and the co-solvent in the break line defect and the gap defect are not etched out because the fill material and the co-solvent in the upper surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30 protect the break line defect and the gap defect. In this process, because the patterned photoresist layer 30 has a similar (or similar) etching resistance to the filling material 40, the patterned photoresist layer 30 may also be etched away slightly during the residual etching process, and a repaired patterned photoresist layer is finally formed, i.e., the repaired patterned photoresist layer includes the patterned photoresist layer 30 and the filling layer located in the line break defect and/or the gap defect.
In this example, the step of removing the excess filling layer may include only removing the excess filling material 40 and the cosolvent 50 by rinsing, but it is also necessary to include the following steps after the rinsing and spin-drying steps:
firstly, baking the filling layer to crosslink the filling material in the filling layer;
then, the excess crosslinked filling layer 401 is removed.
Referring to fig. 9, after the step of removing the excess filling layer by a rinsing method, the filling layer is baked to crosslink the filling material in the filling layer. Because the broken line defect and the gap defect have a certain size, the broken line defect and the gap defect can be better filled by the crosslinking of the filling material, so that the broken line defect and the gap defect are less prone to falling off. The baking temperature is 20-250 ℃, and the etching resistance of the crosslinked filling layer 401 is matched with that of the photoresist, i.e. the etching resistance of the crosslinked filling layer 401 is similar (or close) to that of the photoresist, so that the crosslinked filling layer 401 is not etched in the subsequent etching process of the hard mask layer 20, and therefore, the broken line defect or the gap defect on the patterned photoresist layer 30 is not transferred to the hard mask layer 20. When the fill material 40 includes only a surfactant, the surfactant has a cross-linkable structure, the cross-linking including self-cross-linking of the surfactant and/or cross-linking of the surfactant with the contact surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30. In order to improve the etching resistance of the crosslinked filling layer 401, so that the etching resistance of the crosslinked filling layer 401 matches with the etching resistance of the patterned photoresist layer 30, a surfactant having a small molecular structure may be directly selected or a small molecular structure may be added to the molecule of the surfactant, that is, the surfactant may be modified to link the small molecular structure, where the small molecular structure includes at least one of a benzene ring, an aliphatic ring, and an aromatic ring, before the step of covering the filling material 40 and the cosolvent 50 on the patterned photoresist layer 30 and the hard mask layer 20. Therefore, the etching resistance of the crosslinked filling layer 401 with the small molecular structure is enhanced compared with that of the crosslinked filling layer 401 without the small molecular structure, and the etching resistance of the crosslinked filling layer 401 can be controlled by controlling the type and the additive amount of the small molecular structure, so that the etching resistance of the crosslinked filling layer 401 is matched with that of the photoresist. The co-solvent 50 is volatilized during baking.
When the molecule of the cosolvent 50 also has a crosslinkable structure, a part of the cosolvent 50 may be crosslinked during baking, and the crosslinking in the filling layer at least includes: self-crosslinking of the co-solvent 50, crosslinking of the co-solvent 50 with the fill material, crosslinking of the co-solvent 50 with the contact surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30, self-crosslinking of the fill material, and crosslinking of the fill material with the contact surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30.
When the filling material further comprises a small molecular substance, at least one of the small molecular substance and the surfactant has a crosslinkable structure, i.e., the surfactant and/or the small molecular substance has a crosslinked structure. When the surfactant and the small molecules have a cross-linkable structure, the cross-linking in the filling layer includes at least self-cross-linking of the small molecule substance and the surfactant, and cross-linking of the small molecule substance, the surfactant, and the contact surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30 with each other.
When the filler material includes only small molecular species, the small molecular species have a cross-linkable structure, the cross-linking includes at least self-cross-linking of the small molecular species and cross-linking of the contact surface with the patterned photoresist layer 30.
Referring to fig. 10, after the step of baking the filling layer to crosslink the filling material in the filling layer, the excess crosslinked filling layer 401 is removed to form a patterned photoresist layer after the lithography defect 301 is repaired. The method for removing the unnecessary crosslinked filling layer 401 is preferably removing the crosslinked filling layer 401 except for the lithography defect 301, and is more preferably removing residual etching, and is further preferably plasma dry etching. Since the crosslinked filling layer on the upper surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30 protects the crosslinked filling layer in the broken line defect and the slit defect, the crosslinked filling layer in the broken line defect and the slit defect is not etched. In this process, because the patterned photoresist layer 30 has a similar (or similar) etching resistance to the cross-linked filling layer 401, the patterned photoresist layer 30 may be etched away slightly during the process of removing the excess cross-linked filling layer 401, and a repaired patterned photoresist layer is finally formed, that is, the repaired patterned photoresist layer includes the patterned photoresist layer 30 and the cross-linked filling layer 401 located in the photoresist defect 301.
Referring to fig. 11, after the step of forming the repaired patterned photoresist layer, the hard mask layer 20 is etched using the repaired patterned photoresist layer as a mask to form a patterned hard mask layer 201, and the patterned hard mask layer 201 has no defects therein. I.e., the photoresist pattern without the photolithographic defect after repair is transferred to the hard mask by etching.
In this embodiment, the cosolvent may be adsorbed to the hydrophilic portion of the broken line defect and the crack defect in the lithography defect, or may be adsorbed to the hydrophobic portion of the broken line defect and the crack defect, and may also be adsorbed to the partially deprotected crack defect inside the photoresist in the lithography defect, and the filling material may be adsorbed to the lithography defect by means of the cosolvent, so that the lithography defect is well filled, and the filled filling material and the cosolvent (filling layer) are not easy to fall off. Therefore, after the steps of flushing and spin-drying, the filling material in the filling layer can be crosslinked through baking, so that the filling effect of the photoetching defect is further optimized, the filling layer in the photoetching defect is less prone to falling off, and then a repaired patterned photoresist layer is formed by removing the redundant crosslinked filling layer; after the rinsing step, the repaired patterned photoresist layer may be formed directly by removing residual etching without baking, i.e., without crosslinking the filling layer.
Therefore, after the photoresist layer is subjected to photoetching development, filling materials and cosolvent are covered (namely, the filling materials and the cosolvent are covered on the patterned photoresist layer and the hard mask layer), the defects are covered by utilizing the adsorption of the filling materials and the cosolvent to the broken line defects and the gap defects, and the broken line defects and/or the gap defects are not easy to fall off, so that the broken line defects and/or the gap defects can be filled before the subsequent etching process, namely, the photoetching defects are repaired, the photoetching defect problem in the photoetching process, particularly in the extreme ultraviolet photoetching process, is solved, and meanwhile, the integral etching resistance of the photoresist can be enhanced.
When the photolithographic defect 301 in the patterned photoresist layer 30 includes a bridging defect, photoresist remains at the bottom of the trench (see fig. 12). The repair process of the lithography defect 301 is shown in fig. 13 to 17.
Referring to fig. 13, the patterned photoresist layer 30 and the hard mask layer 20 are first covered with a filling material 40 and a cosolvent 50, and the filling material 40 is preferentially adsorbed at the lithography defect 301 by the cosolvent 50 by rotating the substrate 10, so as to form a filling layer. The method of covering the filler material 40 and the co-solvent 50 includes spin coating and aerosol spray methods. The filling material is preferably a surfactant, the surfactant is preferably a hydrophilic surfactant, the hydrophilic capability of the surfactant is matched with the hydrophilic capability of the photoresist surface after photoetching development, and the surfactant is preferably liquid. And the hydrophilic surfactant is dissolved in an alkaline aqueous solution and also dissolved in an organic solvent with partial polarity, preferably, the dissolution rate of the surfactant in the organic solvent is greater than the dissolution rate in the alkaline aqueous solution. The co-solvent 50 may encapsulate molecules of the surfactant adsorbed on the bridging defect. The filling material 40 may further include a small molecular substance, and the cosolvent 50 may also coat the small molecular substance and adsorb on the bridging defect.
Referring to fig. 14, after the step of forming the filling layer, the excess filling layer is removed. The method of removal includes rinsing and the rinsed reagent includes deionized water, i.e., multiple rinsing may be performed to remove excess fill material 40 and co-solvent 50. After rinsing and spin-drying, the patterned photoresist layer 30 is observed by an electron microscope, when the surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30 and the filling material 40 and the cosolvent 50 in the grooves do not affect the pattern, a cleaning procedure can be fixed, and if the residual active agent in the grooves is still more, the rinsing time in the cleaning procedure is continuously increased. The number and time of the rinse needs to be adjusted according to the trench size in the patterned photoresist 30.
After the step of removing the excess filling layer by means of rinsing, the filling layer can be further removed directly by means of a residue-removing etch, while the bridging defect is removed. And the etch resistance of the filling layer is matched with the etch resistance of the patterned photoresist layer 30, the patterned photoresist layer 30 is also slightly etched during the residue removal etching process.
In addition, after the step of removing the excess filling layer by using the rinsing method, the filling layer may be baked to crosslink the filling material in the filling layer (see fig. 15), and the etching resistance of the crosslinked filling layer 401 is matched with that of the photoresist, i.e., the etching resistance of the crosslinked filling layer 401 is similar (or similar) to that of the photoresist. Wherein the baking temperature is 20-250 ℃. When the filler material includes only a surfactant, the surfactant has a cross-linkable structure, the cross-linking including self-cross-linking of the surfactant and/or cross-linking of the surfactant with the contact surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30. During baking, the co-solvent may be volatilized. If the co-solvent also has a crosslinkable structure, the crosslinking also includes self-crosslinking of the co-solvent, cross-linking of the co-solvent with the surfactant and with the contact surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30.
When the filler material further includes a small molecular substance, at least one of the small molecular substance and the surfactant has a crosslinkable structure, i.e., the surfactant and/or the small molecular substance has a crosslinkable structure. When both the surfactant and the small molecule have a cross-linkable structure, the cross-linking in the fill layer includes at least self-cross-linking of the small molecule species and the surfactant, and cross-linking of the small molecule species, the surfactant, and the contact surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30 with each other.
Referring to fig. 16, after the step of baking the filling layer to crosslink the filling material in the filling layer, the excess crosslinked filling layer 401 is removed, and in addition, the bridge defect needs to be removed, so that the bridge defect and the connected photoresist pattern are disconnected from each other, that is, the photoresist remaining on the upper surface of the patterned photoresist layer 30 and in the trench is removed, so as to form a repaired patterned photoresist layer. The method for removing the crosslinked filling layer 401 and bridging defect is preferably dry etching (residue removing etching), and more preferably plasma etching. Since the etch resistance of the crosslinked fill layer 401 matches the etch resistance of the photoresist layer, the patterned photoresist layer 30 is also slightly etched during the de-residue etch.
Referring to fig. 17, after forming the repaired patterned photoresist layer, the hard mask layer 20 is etched using the repaired patterned photoresist layer as a mask to form a patterned hard mask layer 201, and the patterned hard mask layer 201 has no defect problem caused by bridging defects. I.e., the photoresist pattern without the photolithographic defect after repair is transferred to the hard mask by etching.
In this embodiment, the bridging defect in the patterned photoresist layer can be eliminated by the photolithography defect repair method, that is, by covering the filling material and the cosolvent, and by removing the residual etching.
In addition, when the lithography defect includes a bridging defect and also includes a wire breakage defect and/or a gap defect, the lithography defect repairing method can solve the problem of the wire breakage defect and/or the gap defect while solving the bridging defect as long as the conditions for eliminating the bridging defect and filling the wire breakage defect and/or the gap defect are simultaneously satisfied.
Therefore, in the method for repairing the photoetching defect, the cosolvent has an adsorption effect on hydrophilic parts and hydrophobic parts of the broken line defect and the crack defect in the photoetching defect and on the partially deprotected crack defect in the photoresist, and the filling material can be adsorbed in the broken line defect and/or the crack defect by means of the cosolvent, so that the broken line defect and the crack defect are well filled, and the filled filling material is not easy to fall off. Therefore, after the step of flushing, the filling material can be crosslinked through baking, so that the filling effect of the broken line defect and/or the gap defect is further optimized, the broken line defect and/or the gap defect of the photoresist is less prone to falling off, filling of the broken line defect and/or the gap defect of the photoresist is realized, and meanwhile the integral etching resistance of the photoresist is enhanced; after the step of flushing, the residual etching can be directly carried out without baking, namely without crosslinking of the filling material, so that the filling of the broken line defect and/or the gap defect of the photoresist is realized. And bridging defects in the patterned photoresist layer can be eliminated by removing residual etching. Therefore, the photoetching defect repairing method provided by the invention can solve the problem of photoetching defects in the photoetching process, especially in the extreme ultraviolet photoetching process.
The photoetching defect repairing method provided by the invention not only can solve the problem of single defect of the photoresist in the photoetching process, especially in extreme ultraviolet photoetching, namely only one of bridging defect, wire breakage defect or gap defect, but also can solve the problem of multiple defects of the photoresist in the photoetching process, such as at least two of bridging defect, wire breakage defect or gap defect.
Finally, it should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Equivalent changes and modifications are intended to be within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (8)

1. A method of repairing a lithographic defect comprising the steps of:
providing a semiconductor structure, wherein the semiconductor structure comprises a substrate, a hard mask layer positioned above the substrate and a patterned photoresist layer positioned above the hard mask layer, and the patterned photoresist layer has a photoetching defect;
covering the patterned photoresist layer and the hard mask layer with a filling material and a cosolvent, wherein the cosolvent is a material which has adsorption effect on hydrophilic parts and hydrophobic parts of broken line defects and crack defects in the photoresist layer and on crack defects which are partially deprotected inside the patterned photoresist layer, the filling material comprises a surfactant and a small molecular substance, when the photoresist layer comprises broken line defects and/or crack defects, the diameter of the small molecular substance is smaller than the width of the broken line defects and crack defects, and the filling material is preferentially adsorbed at the photoresist defect by virtue of the cosolvent to form a filling layer, and the small molecular substance comprises a polymer with at least one structure of benzene rings, aliphatic rings and aromatic heterocycles so as to increase the etching resistance of the filling layer;
removing the redundant filling layer to form a patterned photoresist layer after the photoetching defect is repaired;
and etching the hard mask layer by taking the repaired patterned photoresist layer as a mask to form a patterned hard mask layer.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming of the patterned photoresist layer comprises extreme ultraviolet lithography.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the lithographic defect comprises at least one of a bridging defect, a wire break defect, and a gap defect; and rotating the substrate in the process of covering the filling material and the cosolvent on the patterned photoresist layer and the hard mask layer, so that the filling material is preferentially adsorbed on the photoetching defect by the aid of the cosolvent.
4. A method of repairing a lithographic defect according to claim 3, wherein the surfactant comprises a hydrophilic surfactant which is dissolved in an aqueous alkaline solution and also in an organic solvent with partial polarity and which has a higher dissolution rate in the organic solvent than in the aqueous alkaline solution.
5. The method of repairing a lithographic defect of claim 4, further comprising, prior to the step of covering the filler material and the co-solvent, increasing the number of small molecular structures in the surfactant, the small molecular structures including at least one of benzene rings, aliphatic rings, and aromatic heterocyclic rings, such that the dissolution rate of the surfactant in the organic solvent is greater than the dissolution rate in the aqueous alkaline solution.
6. The method of claim 3, further comprising removing the bridge defect to disconnect the photoresist patterns connected by the bridge defect from each other before the step of etching the hard mask layer when the photolithography defect includes the bridge defect.
7. The method of repairing a lithographic defect of claim 1, further comprising, after the step of removing the excess fill layer, the steps of:
baking the filling layer to crosslink the filling material in the filling layer;
and removing the redundant crosslinked filling layer.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the cross-linked filler layer has an etch resistance that matches the etch resistance of the patterned photoresist layer.
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CN105182684A (en) * 2015-10-20 2015-12-23 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 Overhauling method of mask plate
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CN1726431A (en) * 2002-10-21 2006-01-25 纳米墨水公司 Nanometer-scale engineered structures, methods and apparatus for fabrication thereof, and applications to mask repair, enhancement, and fabrications
CN106098541A (en) * 2015-04-30 2016-11-09 三星显示有限公司 The method manufacturing mask
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