Nano-projectile SIMS for evaluating molecular homogeneity in ultra-small domains

Development of ultra-small features in devices has made significant advancement in recent years, from 130 nm junctions in 2001 to the goal of developing 5 nm and sub 5nm for 2020 and beyond. In photolithography this has resulted in the number of features produced in a single exposure surpassing 1 trillion. The successful production of these features will depend on the local sensitivity of the resist. This is affected by the distribution of photons and the local composition of the film. In the latter case, the abundance of the photon absorbing species (e.g. photo-acid generator, photo-base generator, etc.), quencher, and polymer constituents (e.g. lactone group, protecting group, leaving group) are all critical for the successful production of the desired feature. To advance the performance of resists a more complete understanding of the local composition must be obtained. Thus, there is a need for new analytical tools to measure the molecular composition of the resist for domains below 5-10 nm in diameter. But not only do we need to understand the composition in these ultra-small domains, we also need to identify and characterize domains that are more than three standard deviations from the mean. These ?rare? sites with significantly different molecular composition will have a different resist sensitivity and likely result in the formation of defects. Our goal is to advance a unique analytical methodology for characterizing molecular homogeneity at the nanoscale, critical for developing advanced materials for nanoscale fabrication, specifically extreme ultra-violet, EUV, and chemically amplified, CA, photo-resists. Such a technique is urgently needed to advance our understanding of fundamental and material processes, as outlined in section 4g in ?research needs document: nanomanufacturing materials and processes?.