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# c12) United States Patent 

# Liu et al. 

# (54) NEGATIVE TONE DEVELOPER FOR EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET LITHOGRAPHY 

(71) Applicant: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Hsinchu (TW) 

(72) Inventors: Chen-Yu Liu, Kaohsiung (TW); Wei-Han Lai, New Taipei (TW); Tzu-Yang Lin, Tainan (TW); Ming-Hui Weng, New Taipei (TW); Ching-Yu Chang, Yilang County (TW); Chin-Hsiang Lin, Hsin-Chu (TW) 

(73) Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD., Hsinchu (TW) 

( *) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term ofthis patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 155 days. 

(21) Appl. No.: 15/694,222 

(22) Filed: Sep. 1, 2017 

## (65) Prior Publication Data 

US 2018/0341177 Al Nov. 29, 2018 

## Related U.S. Application Data 

(60) Provisional application No. 62/511,758, filed on May 26, 2017. 

(51) Int. Cl. 

<img src='content_image/897436.jpg'>

(52) U.S. Cl. CPC ................ G03F 71325 (2013.01); G03F 7/16 (2013.01); G03F 7/20 (2013.01); G03F 7/2004 (2013.01) 

(58) Field of Classification Search CPC . G03F 7/16; G03F 7/20; G03F 7/2004; G03F 7/038; G03F 7/325 USPC ......................... 430/296, 325, 330, 331, 942 See application file for complete search history. 

<img src='content_image/897420.jpg'>

# (IO) Patent No.: US 10,520,820 B2 

# Dec. 31, 2019 (45) Date of Patent: 

## (56) References Cited 

<img src='content_image/897425.jpg'>

John J Biafore et al., "Statistical Simulation of Resist at EUV and ArF," Proceedings of SPIE-The International Society for Optical Engineering-Mar. 2009, vol. 7273 (11 pages). 

Primary Examiner - Christopher G Young (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm - Haynes and Boone, LLP 

## (57) ABSTRACT 

The present disclosure provides NTD developers and cor› responding lithography techniques that can overcome reso› lution, line edge roughness (LER), and sensitivity (RLS) tradeoff barriers particular to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technologies, thereby achieving high patterning fidelity for advanced technology nodes. An exemplary lithography method includes forming a negative tone resist layer over a workpiece; exposing the negative tone resist layer to EUV radiation; and removing an unexposed portion of the nega› tive tone resist layer in a negative tone developer, thereby forming a patterned negative tone resist layer. The negative tone developer includes an organic solvent having a log P value greater than 1.82. The organic solvent is an ester acetate derivative represented by R$_{1}$COOR$_{2}$ . R$_{1 }$ and R$_{2 }$ are hydrocarbon chains having four or less carbon atoms. In some implementations, R$_{1}$ , R$_{2}$ , or both R$_{1 }$ and R$_{2 }$ are propyl functional groups, such as n-propyl, isopropyl, or 2-meth› ylpropyl. 

USO 10520820B2 

## U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 

## OTHER PUBLICATIONS 

## 20 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets 

