Spatial Distribution Analysis of Functional Groups in Resist Thin Film Using Reflection-Mode Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering

An important issue in EUV resist is the development of low line width roughness (LWR) resists. One of the factors that worsen LWR is hypothesized to be the non-uniform distribution of functional groups within the resist. Therefore, it is required for the development of low LWR resist that the controlling of the spatial distribution of resist component materials on the nanometer scale.We have been reported the evaluation of the amount of the chemical component, such as aggregation and segregation, using the reflection-mode resonant soft X-ray scattering (RSoXS) measurement system installed at BL10 of the New SUBARU synchrotron radiation facility. The reflection-mode RSoXS measurement technique allows for the scattering information for each functional group through the resonant absorption phenomenon induced by the corresponding incident photon energy. The RSoXS measurements were performed using only an incident photon energy of 280 eV in our previous reports. In this study, we evaluated RSoXS measurements at various incident photon energies around 280 eV to evaluate the aggregation distribution of the resist from several pieces of information, such as carbon, non-carbon, surface region and inside region.