Development of an incremental structural parameter model for predicting reactive ion etch rates of 193 nm photoresist polymers

A model based on the incremental structural parameter (ISP) is developed. This model makes use of a molecular fragment-based definition of polymer structure which incorporates and extends aspects of previous parameters such as the Ohnishi and Ring parameters. Various polymer families used in deep-UV and 193 nm photoresists including methacrylates, alternating copolymers, styrenes, and cyclic olefins are compared. A detailed description of the ISP model and the follow-on ISP method which has been developed based on insights gained from the original ISP model are presented.