Azide-phenolic resin-based resist

From this result on MRS, we expected that a combination of phenolic-resin-based resist and aqueous alkaline developer would lead to etching-type dissolution and non-swelling resist patterns. In this paper, we report on a new non-swelling negative electron beam resist consisting of an epoxy novolac, azide compound and phenolic resin matrix (EAP) and discuss the radiation chemistry of this resist. 

Novolac- or phenolic resin-based resists usually show no pattern deformation induced by swelling during development in aqueous alkaline solution. Examples of such resists are naphtho-quinonediazide/novolac positive photoresists, novolac-based positive electron-beam resist (NPR) (1), and azide/phenolic negative deep-UV resist (MRS) (2). Iwayanagi et al.(2) reported that the development of MRS proceeds in the same manner as the etching process. This resist, consisting of a deep-UV sensitive azide and phenolic resis matrix, is also sensitive to electron-beams. This paper deals with the development mechanism of non-swelling MRS and its electron-beam exposure characteristics. 

Several DUV resists based on phenolic resins sensitized with azide compounds are now commercially available from Hitachi Chemical (RD2000N) (90), Hunt Chemical (WX303) 91), and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (ODUR120). 

Positive-Tone Photoresists based on Dissolution Inhibition by Diazonaphthoquinones. The intrinsic limitations of bis-azide—cyclized rubber resist systems led the semiconductor industry to shift to a class of imaging materials based on diazonaphthoquinone (DNQ) photosensitizers. Both the chemistry and the imaging mechanism of these resists (Fig. 10) differ in fundamental ways from those described thus far (23). The DNQ acts as a dissolution inhibitor for the matrix resin, a low molecular weight condensation product of formaldehyde and cresol isomers known as novolac (24). The phenolic structure renders the novolac polymer weakly acidic, and readily soluble in aqueous alkaline solutions. In admixture with an appropriate DNQ the polymer s dissolution rate is sharply decreased. Photolysis causes the DNQ to undergo a multistep reaction sequence, ultimately forming a base-soluble carboxylic acid which does not inhibit film dissolution. Immersion of a pattemwise-exposed film of the resist in an aqueous solution of hydroxide ion leads to rapid dissolution of the exposed areas and only very slow dissolution of unexposed regions. In contrast with crosslinking resists, the film solubility is controlled by chemical and polarity differences rather than molecular size. 

Several negative resists based on polymeric resin binders and azides as the photoactive compound have also been reported. These include resists based on poly(vinyl phenol) as the polymeric resin and various mono-azides as the photosensitive component such as 4-azidochalcone and its homologs (XIV, XV, XVI). ... 

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