Next Generation Photoresist Technology for Microchips

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Irresistible Materials (IM) is developing next generation ‘photo-resist materials’ for thesemiconductor industry. A photo-resist is a material that undergoes a change in its physicaland/or chemical properties when exposed to radiation. Within the semiconductor industry,silicon substrates are coated by a photo-resist, and the resist is then selectively exposed toradiation using an ‘exposure tool’ to create a pattern (photo-lithography). The resist is thentreated such that either the exposed or unexposed areas are dissolved. The remaining resistpatterns serve as a barrier that protects the underlying substrate, and once the substrate isprocessed, the resist layer is stripped leaving lines (wires) used as the basis for today’s microchips.Resists are thus critical to the semiconductor industry, and the ever decreasing size ofmicroelectronics is possible only through continuous advancements in lithography and resisttechnologies. The progression to decreased size is mapped out in the International TechnologyRoadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS), revised annually by a worldwide panel ofsemiconductor experts, which sets out performance goals for the industry. Existingphotolithography (where the radiation used is 193nm wavelength light) is reaching its limit,and is unlikely to meet industry goals for 2016. Accordingly, next-generation lithographies(NGL’s) are being sought to take over in 2016. The leading candidate of NGL’s is extremeultraviolet lithography (EUV), where the wavelength of the radiation (light source) is reducedto 13.5nm enabling higher resolution patterns, and thus smaller micro-chip wires. However,presently there are two major problems with EUV lithography:1. EUV exposure tools are very expensive: $billions are being invested into new EUVequipment to address this.2. There is no EUV compatible resist material that meets the 2016 targets: IrresistibleMaterials Ltd has developed a patented material that directly addresses this issue.