Alkynyl Ligands for Metal-Containing EUV Resists

Background:

A photoresist is a type of photosensitive material that undergoes chemical change when exposed to light. They are widely used in the manufacture of microcircuits. One type of photoresist reacts to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. In recent years, researchers have shown a great deal of interest in photoresists containing metallic elements, which may enhance performance due to high absorptivity, small molecular volume, high material homogeneity, and high etch resistance. To improve metallic photoresist performance, there has also been interest in photoresists containing alkenes, a hydrocarbon material that contains carbon-carbon double bonds. Alkene photoresists have excellent photo speed performance. Unfortunately, their contrast curves tend to be generally poor compared to other photoresist materials.

Technology Overview:

This technology is a novel process for fabricating metal-containing resists for use in EUV lithography. Specifically, the resists contain metals specially chosen from the main group of elements that strongly absorb EUV light. These include tellurium, antimony, tin, iodine, bismuth, and indium. The technology uses the alkyne functional group in ligands attached to mononuclear and multinuclear complexes of the metal-containing resists. Alkyne ligands show superior contrast curves compared to alkene ligands. The alkyne contrast curves are better shaped, providing cleaner toes and higher contrast. This could lead to the development of superior resists for EUV applications.

Advantages:

The primary advantage of this technology is its ability to produce resists for EUV applications that offer cleaner toes and higher contrast.

Applications:

The primary application for this technology is the manufacture of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photoresists.

Intellectual Property Summary:

Patent application filed: WO2024039736A2, “Positive-tone organometallic euv resists,” published 2024, Nationalized in US 8/19/2024 https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2024039736A2/en.

Stage of Development:

TRL 3 - Experimental proof of concept

Licensing Status:

This technology is available for licensing.

Licensing Potential:

This technology would be of interest to anyone involved in the manufacture of electronic components and devices, including:
•    Electronic component manufacturers.
•    Electronic devices manufacturers.
•    Research institutions.