Composition-controlled hafnium-based inorganic/organic hybrid dry photoresist via discrete feeding-molecular layer deposition

초록

A hafnium-based compound thin film, referred to as a hafnicone film, is deposited at 50 °C by molecular layer deposition as a dry-deposited inorganic photoresist for advanced lithographic applications. Upon i-line ultraviolet exposure, the photochemical reaction mechanism of hafnicone is elucidated, revealing partial ligand cleavage and increased oxide-like character within the hybrid film. Using tetramethylammonium hydroxide as the developer, the hafnicone film exhibits distinct negative-tone behavior. To further optimize the resist performance, a discrete feeding method is applied separately to the metal precursor and organic reactant feeding steps, enabling precise control of the carbon-to-hafnium ratio in the hafnicone film and thereby modulating the development rate. As a result, compositional optimization of the hafnicone film yields an improved development selectivity (∼10.1 nm). © 2026 Elsevier B.V.

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