Linewidth Reduction using Liquid Ashing for Sub-100nm Critical Dimensions with 248 nm Lithography

The need for sub-100nm semiconductor devices has driven our industry to develop new resits (1,2), exposure tools (248nm, 193nm, EUV, SCALPEL, etc.,), mask technologies (3,4) and processing procedures. Enormous amounts of research have gone into every aspect of the semiconductor device fabrication process and new techniques to further reduce the critical dimensions need to be investigated.