International Business Machines Corporation

Shin-etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.

Martha Inez Sanchez

Daniel Sanders

Frances Anne Houle

William Dinan Hinsberg

John Allen Hoffnagle

Satoshi Watanabe

Ratnam Sooriyakumaran

Yoshio Kawai

Willi Volksen

Keiichi Masunaga

Daisuke Domon

Linda Karin Sundberg

Luisa Dominica Bozano

James L Hedrick

Robert Dennis Miller

Ekmini Anuja De Silva

Yann Mignot

Marie Angelopoulos

Alan Edward Rosenbluth

Chi-Chun Liu

Nelson M Felix

Eric D Perfecto

Richard Anthony DiPietro

Kenneth Raymond Carter

John Patrick Hummel

Sally Ann Swanson

Alexey Y Lvov

Gregg M Gallatin

Daniel George Berger

Kristin Schmidt

Jeffrey W Labadie

Do Yeung Yoon

Nakgeuon Seong

Ronald L Gordon

A negative-tone resist composition is provided that contains a free photoacid generator and a multifunctional polymer covalently bound to a photoacid-generating moiety, where the composition is substantially free of cross-linking agents. Multifunctional polymers useful in conjunction with the resist composition are also provided, as is a process for generating a resist image on a substrate using the present compositions and polymers.

Multifunctional polymers

A plurality of mandrels and silicon dioxide spacer structures are formed, with the spacer structures interdigitated between the mandrels. An organic planarization layer is applied, as are a thin oxide layer and a layer of photoresist patterned in hole tone over the oxide layer, thereby defining a domain. At least one hole is etched in the thin oxide layer and the organic planarization layer to expose a portion of a hard mask layer surface between the spacer structures. A selective polymer brush is applied, which grafts only to the exposed hard mask surface, followed by solvent rinsing the domain to remove ungrafted polymer brush. At least one precursor is infused to an etch resistant material into the polymer brush by a sequential infiltration synthesis process. The organic planarization layer is ashed to convert the infused precursor into oxide form to further enhance etch selectivity to the hard mask layer.

Fabricating electrically nonconductive blocks using a polymer brush and a sequential infiltration synthesis process

Negative-tone resist compositions and multifunctional polymers therein

An optical apparatus used for the efficient characterization of photoresist material includes at least one grating interferometer having at least two gratings that together define an optical recombination plane. An optical stop blocks any zeroth order beam from propagating through the apparatus. A reticle positioned at the recombination plane has at least one fiducial marking therein. A lithographic imaging optical tool is positioned so that its input optical plane is substantially coincident with the optical recombination plane and its output imaging plane is substantially coincident with photoresist on a wafer. The apparatus writes in the photoresist latent, sinusoidal grating patterns, preferably of different spatial frequencies, as well as at least one fiducial mark whose pattern is determined by the marking in the reticle. After the photoresist is developed, its intrinsic spatial resolution may be determined by automated means.

Apparatus for characterization of photoresist resolution, and method of use

A method and system is provided for computing lithographic images that may take into account non-scalar effects such as lens birefringence, resist stack effects, tailored source polarizations, and blur effects of the mask and the resist. A generalized bilinear kernel is formed, which is independent of the mask transmission function, and which may then be treated using a decomposition to allow rapid computation of an image that includes such non-scalar effects. Weighted pre-images may be formed from a coherent sum of pre-computed convolutions of the dominant eigenfunctions of the generalized bilinear kernel with the appropriate mask polygon sectors. The image at a point may be formed from the incoherent sum of the weighted pre-images over all of the dominant eigenfunctions of the generalized bilinear kernel. The resulting image can then be used to perform model-based optical proximity correction (MBOPC).

Fast model-based optical proximity correction

The invention relates to a process for forming a circuit assembly comprising (i) coating onto a substrate a layer of polyamic ester selected from a unique class of polyamic esters; (ii) imidizing the polyamic ester to form a layer of polyimide having an even surface and (iii) forming circuit conductors on the even surface of the polyimide.

Process for forming a circuit assembly

The present invention relates to an improved process for forming negative tone images of photosensitive polyimides on a substrate having improved wall angles.

Process for forming negative tone images of polyimides using base

Growing community of inventors

Menlo Park, CA, United States of America

Martha Inez Sanchez