Integrated dry processes for patterning radiation photoresist patterning

Abstract

Methods for making thin-films on semiconductor substrates, may be patterned using EUV, include: depositing the organometallic polymer-like material onto the surface of the semiconductor substrate, exposing the surface to EUV to form a pattern, and developing the pattern for later transfer to underlying layers. The depositing operations may be performed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), and ALD with a CVD component, such as a discontinuous, ALD-like process in which metal precursors and counter-reactants are separated in either time or space.

1 . An integrated lithography system, comprising:
 a plurality of reaction chambers within a cluster, the plurality of reaction chambers comprising:
 a photoresist (PR) deposition chamber; 
 a post-application bake (PAB) chamber; 
 a post-exposure bake (PEB) chamber; 
 a development chamber; and 
   a controller that includes one or more processors and one or more memory devices, wherein the one or more memory devices store computer-executable instructions for controlling the one or more processors to:
 receive a substrate in the PR deposition chamber; 
 deposit a PR on a surface of the substrate within the PR deposition chamber; 
 receive the substrate having the PR in the PAB chamber; 
 treat the PR within the PAB chamber to modify material properties of the PR; 
 after treating the PR, receive the substrate in the PEB chamber, wherein portions of the PR have been chemically altered by exposure to radiation to create a patterned PR; 
 treat the patterned PR within the PEB chamber to modify material properties of the patterned PR; and 
 dry developing the patterned PR within the development chamber by removing either an exposed portion or an unexposed portion of the patterned PR by a dry development process comprising exposure to a chemical compound to form a PR mask. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the PR is a metal-containing PR. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the PR is an EUV PR. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of reaction chambers further includes a substrate clean chamber, and the computer-executable instructions further include instructions for controlling the one or more processors to, prior to the computer-executable instruction to receive the substrate having the PR in the PAB chamber:
 receive the substrate having the PR in the clean chamber; and   perform a dry clean process to remove PR from a bevel edge and/or backside of the substrate.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of reaction chambers further includes an underlayer deposition chamber, and the computer-executable instructions further include instructions for controlling the one or more processors to, prior to the computer-executable instruction to deposit a PR:
 deposit an underlayer on the surface of the substrate via a dry process, wherein the underlayer increases adhesion of the PR to the substrate.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the underlayer deposition chamber is the PR deposition chamber. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of reaction chambers further includes a pre-treatment chamber, and the computer-executable instructions further include instructions for controlling the one or more processors to, prior to the computer-executable instruction to deposit the PR:
 treat the surface of the substrate via a dry process to cause more chemical functional groups on the surface of the substrate to improve PR adhesion to the substrate.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further include instructions for controlling the one or more processors to perform a dry clean process to remove PR from a bevel edge and/or backside of the substrate within the PAB chamber. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of reaction chambers further includes a lithography scanner, and the computer-executable instructions further include instructions for controlling the one or more processors to, prior to the computer-executable instruction to receive the substrate in the PEB chamber:
 receive the substrate in the lithography scanner; and   expose portions of the PR to radiation to create a patterned PR.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of reaction chambers are each below atmospheric pressure, and the PR is under below-atmospheric pressure until after the dry development process. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein an ambient environment of the substrate is controlled to reduce exposure of the photoresist to moisture prior to dry developing the patterned PR. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further include computer-executable instructions to deposit the PR via a dry process comprising mixing a vapor stream of an organometallic precursor with a vapor stream of a counter-reactant. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processes performed by the plurality of reaction chambers are all dry processes. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processes performed by the plurality of reaction chambers include wet and dry processes. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the cluster comprises multiple PR deposition chambers. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the PAB chamber and the PEB chamber are the same chamber. 
     
     
         17 . An integrated substrate processing system, comprising:
 a plurality of substrate processing environments, the plurality of substrate processing environments comprising a metal-containing photoresist (PR) deposition environment and one or more other separate integrated processing environments selected from the group consisting of:
 an additional metal-containing photoresist (PR) deposition environment; 
 a metal-containing PR development environment, and 
 a thermal treatment processing environment; and 
   a controller that includes one or more processors and one or more memory devices, wherein the one or more memory devices store computer-executable instructions for controlling the one or more processors to:
 receive a substrate in the metal-containing PR deposition environment; 
 deposit a metal-containing PR on a surface of the substrate within the metal-containing PR deposition environment; and 
 conduct additional PR processing operations in the one or more other separate integrated processing environments. 
   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of substrate processing environments further includes a PR dry development processing environment, and the one or more memory devices store further computer-executable instructions for controlling the one or more processors to:
 after portions of the metal-containing PR have been chemically altered by exposure to radiation to create a patterned PR, dry develop the patterned PR within the development environment by removing either an exposed portion or an unexposed portion of the patterned PR by a dry development process comprising exposure to a chemical compound to form a PR mask.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of substrate processing environments further includes a thermal treatment processing environment, and the one or more memory devices store further computer-executable instructions for controlling the one or more processors to:
 before and/or after portions of the metal-containing PR have been chemically altered by exposure to radiation to create a patterned PR, thermally treat the metal-containing PR within the thermal treatment processing environment.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of substrate processing environments further includes a scanner environment, and the one or more memory devices store further computer-executable instructions for controlling the one or more processors to:
 expose portions of the metal-containing PR to radiation within the scanner environment to chemically alter the exposed portions.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of substrate processing environments are different process chambers within a cluster. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of substrate processing environments are different stations within a chamber. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of substrate processing environments includes three metal-containing PR deposition environments. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of substrate processing environments comprises two metal-containing PR deposition environments and a metal-containing PR development environment, and the one or more memory devices store further computer-executable instructions for controlling the one or more processors to:
 after portions of the metal-containing PR have been chemically altered by exposure to radiation to create a patterned PR, develop the patterned PR via a dry process.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of substrate processing environments comprises a metal-containing PR deposition environments, a thermal treatment processing environment, and a metal-containing PR development environment, and the one or more memory devices store further computer-executable instructions for controlling the one or more processors to:
 before and/or after portions of the metal-containing PR have been chemically altered by exposure to radiation to create a patterned PR, thermally treat the metal-containing PR within the thermal treatment processing environment, and   after thermally treating the metal-containing PR within the thermal treatment processing environment, developing the patterned PR via a dry process.   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of substrate processing environments comprises the metal-containing PR deposition environment, a first thermal treatment processing environment, a second thermal treatment processing environment, and a metal-containing PR development environment, and the one or more memory devices store further computer-executable instructions for controlling the one or more processors to:
 before portions of the metal-containing PR have been chemically altered by exposure to radiation to create a patterned PR, thermally treat the metal-containing PR within the first thermal treatment processing environment,   after portions of the metal-containing PR have been chemically altered by exposure to radiation to create a patterned PR, thermally treat the metal-containing PR within the second thermal treatment processing environment, and   after thermally treating the metal-containing PR within the second thermal treatment processing environment, developing the patterned PR via a dry process.