Photoresists - Applications
A photoresist (also known simply as a resist) is a photon or particle sensitive material used in numerous lithographic processes to form a micro- or nano- patterned coating on a surface. This process is crucial for a wide range of diverse sectors in modern industry (ICs, MEMs, OLEDs, microfluidics, etc).
Numerous lithographic materials have been developed to serve the needs of modern industry and are capable to resolve dense features with resolution from a bunch of nanometers up to several micrometers and several of millimeters. Thanks to these materials, numerous concepts and devices are realized both in R&D labs and in industry. The accurate, fast and non-destructive characterization of those materials facilitates for further improvement of their lithographic performance in terms of process latitude and resolution. Thus, existing lithographic technologies and tools can be employed in a larger number of technology nodes and applications with a profound positive effect on the performance of industrial plants.
ThetaMetrisis tools serve research and industry by offering robust and user-friendly tools for the accurate, fast and non-destructive characterization of lithographic materials in terms of thickness (1nm-3mm range), refractive index for single point measurement and automated mapping and for a wide range of substrates (Si, glass, GaAs, Stainless Steel, flexible foils etc.) Furthermore, by using certain FR-tools configurations, critical properties for the lithographic performance of the materials are characterized, such as: glass transition temperature to optimize the thermal processing of the resist films, dissolution rate to optimize the development step.
All major lithographic materials from various vendors, are included in the materials database to facilitate the fast characterization of the related films. Furthermore, FR-tools can be equipped with high pass-filters to avoid the exposure of the resist films at wavelength regions where they are sensitive.