Materials for double patterning strategies: Development and application

Double patterning has become the most promising approach to overcome the 32nm node challenges. Several schemes have been proposed to simplify the process, each requiring very specific materials that still have to be developed and optimized. The resist platform presented here is an image lock material which has been developed to meet the Litho-Litho-Etch (or 2P1E) approach. In this paper, we present the material development of dedicated polymers for the double imaging technique. The lithographic properties of these materials are evaluated, in term of process window (PW) and Line Edge Roughness (LER). Successful patterning of 50 and 45nm lines at 90nm pitch has been obtained.