The synthesis and lithographic evaluation of a high silicon- content novolac based resist.

A new silicon-containing positive photoresist (a bis-trimethylsilylmethylat ed resorcinol -- methylresorcinol-- formaldehyde resin mixed with a diazonaphthoquinone solubility inhibitor), has been developed. A sensitivity of ~65mJ/cm(2) was achieved. The resist, which has excellent durability against O(2) reactive ion etching (etching rate ratio of 0.05 relative to hard baked HPR-204) was used as the thin top layer of a bilevel resist system. Following exposure and development, 1.0micron line and space patterns were transferred through the bottom layer of hard baked HPR-204 with ~10% loss of line width. The pattern transfer of 1.75micron line and space patterns occurred with no detectable loss of feature size.