Electron-Beam Study of Nanometer Performances of the SAL 601 Chemically Amplified Resist

The SAL 601 chemically amplified resist has been characterized for electron-beam (e-beam) exposure with feature size down to 75 nm. The main resist process parameters such as the pre and post exposure baking time and temperature, the resist thickness and its development conditions, have been investigated and calibrated for sub-100 nm resolution. Various writing strategies making use of test patterns comprising different nominal feature-size were also investigated. Dense lines, as fine as 75 nm, are achieved in a 350 nm thick resist with exposure latitude of 0.4 nm/µC/cm2 at 50 kV accelerating voltage. The sub-100 nm resolution was achieved with a 3σ value of 12 nm.