SBIR Phase I: A Front-End-of-Line Photoresist Stripping Process for Electronic Device Manufacturing

该小型企业创新研究项目旨在评估一种用于电子设备制造的新型前端(FEOL)光致抗蚀剂剥离工艺的性能。硫酸和氧化剂混合物(SOM)继续用于从半导体晶片上剥离光致抗蚀剂。最近，几个研究小组研究了使用溶解在去离子水(DIO)中的臭氧来剥离光致抗蚀剂。使用溶解在水中的臭氧代替SOM具有许多优点，包括：1)降低了化学处理成本，2)减少了漂洗去离子水的消耗，3)增加了使用者的安全性，4)降低了化学成本。Phifer Smith公司开发了一种新工艺，其蚀刻速度比最快的DIO工艺快两到四倍。我们为第一阶段定义了四个目标：1)改进现有的湿法工艺测试设备，2)测量正负I线和DUV光刻胶的刻蚀速率，3)测量以1E13、1E14和1E15剂量水平注入的正I线和正DUV光刻胶的刻蚀速率，4)开发用于第二阶段评估的(FEOL)晶片清洗工艺的初步设计。该工艺可用于高速光刻胶剥离和残渣清除。它还可以应用于半导体制造工艺前端的蚀刻后残留物去除。最后，它还可以作为一种无残留物、环保的清洁工艺应用于其他行业。

This Small Business Innovation Research Project will be directed toward assessing the performance of a new a front-end-of-line (FEOL) photoresist stripping process for electronic device manufacturing. A Sulfuric acid and oxidant mixture (SOM) continues to be used for stripping photoresist from semiconductor wafers. Recently, several groups of researchers have investigated the use of ozone dissolved in DI water (DIO) for photoresist stripping. The use of ozone dissolved in water in lieu of SOM offers a number of advantages including: 1) decreased chemical disposal cost, 2) decreased rinse DI water consumption, 3) increased user safety, 4) decreased chemical cost.Phifer Smith Corporation has developed a new process which has achieved an etch rate that is two to four times faster than the fastest DIO process. We have defined four goals for phase I: 1) modify our existing wet processing test apparatus, 2) measure the etch rate for positive and negative I-line and DUV photoresist,3) measure the etch rate for positive I-line and positive DUV photoresist ion implanted at dose levels of 1E13, 1E14, and 1E15, 4) develop a preliminary design for a (FEOL) wafer cleaning process for evaluation in phase II.This process can be applied to high-speed photoresist stripping and post ash residue removal. It may also find application in post-etch residue removal for front-end-of-line semiconductor manufacturing processes. Finally, it may also find application in other industries as a residue free, environmentally benign, cleaning process.