Abstract
The surface imaging processes using germylating agents are investigated. The removability of the resist is expected to be improved by using germylation instead of silylation. The reactivity of several germylating agents with phenolic OH group is evaluated. And germylamine compounds are found to exhibit the highest reactivity among them. Three different types of surface imaging processes are demonstrated and submicron patterns are obtained with each process. Bis(triethylgermyl)amine (BGA) as the germylating agent and PLASMASK 200G-C are used for these processes. The reactivity of BGA is higher than that of HMDS.
In the deep UV exposure process, the differences between the germylation and the silylation are investigated on the oxygen dry etching characteristics and the diffusion depth of the reaction. The process using the germylation by BGA is found to have higher oxygen dry etching resistance and lower swelling which corresponds to the diffusion depth in germylated area as compared with the silylation by HMDS. From these results the surface imaging process is expected to have high controllability for linewidth by using the germylation.
