Line width roughness (LWR) improvement and queue time elimination by a chlorine-based process in pitch doubling for improving throughput

Both line width roughness (LWR) and queue time (Q-time) have attracted attention in the high-volume manufacturing (HVM). In this paper, we will present the results for the effect of HBr cure process on LWR in pitch doubling process with fluorine-based and chlorine-based chemistries using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Optimization of HBr cure process with Cl-based chemistry has significantly improved LWR by 60% and space imbalance by 60%. Converting from the fluorine-based etch chemistry to Cl-based chemistry leads to elimination of Q-time from resist etch to atomic layer deposition (ALD) steps, which significantly maximizes HVM production throughput by 11% and improves product quality.