Computational Engineering Commons^™

Accelerated Catalyst Diffusion In Chemically Amplified Resists, Christopher M. Bottoms

Doctoral Dissertations

Quantitative reaction-diffusion models are critical for the development of high-resolution lithographic processes based on chemically amplified resists (CARs). CARs consist of a glassy polymer resin with a photoacid generator. Patterns are formed through a coupled reaction-diffusion process. It is known that reaction kinetics is controlled by the slow diffusion of acid-anion pairs (catalysts), and catalyst diffusion lengths partly control the pattern resolution and uniformity. However, it is difficult to quantify the diffusivity during reaction, let alone examine the roles of polymer-ion and ion-ion interactions on catalyst mobility, using direct measurements. This work presents a concerted experimental and computational effort to …