Method for determining baking conditions for resist pattern formation

Abstract

Resist patterns which minimize the standard deviations of critical dimensions within a plate and between the plates (namely which minimize the critical dimensions) are formed by a method for determining conditions for resist pattern formation comprising a resist film forming process, a resist film baking process, an exposing process, and a developing process, which method consists in preparing a plurality of plates each having a resist film formed thereon, baking the resist films on the plates under severally varying baking conditions, omitting to perform an exposing treatment on the resist films, and subjecting the resist films baked under their own baking conditions to a dissolving treatment to be severally performed under such prescribed conditions as induce partial dissolution of the resist films thereby determining as the temperature condition for baking a prospective resist film the baking temperature that minimizes the change in the uniformity of the remaining resist thickness in the plates relative to the change in the baking time among the resist films and, at the same time, determining as the time conditions for baking the prospective resist film the baking time that optimizes the uniformity in the plates of the remaining resist thickness of the resist films or minimizes the amount of reducing thickness at the baking temperature.