Photoresist is the core consumable for fine graphic circuit production in microelectronics technology. Several novel i-line (365 nm) photoresists were designed and prepared in this paper.
(1) Poly(4-hydroxy styrene)(PHS) has good transparency at 248 nm wavelength, high glass transition temperature (Tg) and excellent alkali solubility, but the characteristics of flexibility and adhesion of the polymer are poor. Therefore, poly(4-hydroxystyrene)-methacrylate copolymer was prepared and the flexibility and adhesion were significantly improved due to the introduction of methacrylate group, so it was tried to be used as film-forming resin for chemically amplified i-line photoresist. In this paper, p-acetoxystyrene was polymerized with tert-butyl methacrylate and 3-(trimethoxy-silicyl) propyl methacrylate, respectively. After hydrolysis reaction, two copolymers with good transparency at the wavelength of 365 nm were obtained, namely P(HS-t-BMA) and P(HS-MPS). In addition, two sulfonium salt photoacids, 6-methoxy-2-acetylnaphthyl sulfonium salt (PAG-1) and anthracene sulfonium salt (PAG-2), were prepared. Ultraviolet absorption spectra show that these two sulfonium salt photoacids have moderate absorption and good photobleaching properties at the wavelength of 365 nm.
The i-line chemically amplified positive photoresist was composed of poly (4-hydroxystylene-tert-butyl methacrylate) and photoacid generator PAG-1. The imaging pattern with a resolution of 2 μm line width was obtained at an exposure dose of 200 mJ/cm2. The i-line chemically amplified negative photoresist was composed of poly (4-hydroxystyrene 3-(trimethoxy-silicyl)methacrylate) and photoacid generator PAG-2. When the exposure dose was at 300 mJ/cm2, the postexposure baking(PEB) temperature raised to 120 ℃, and the PEB time increased to 120 s, patterns with the resolution of 3 μm line width were obtained after development. The experimental results show that the photosensitivity and resolution of the negative photoresist are obviously improved by increasing the PEB temperature.
(2)Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was modified by esterification reaction and acetal reaction, and four kinds of polyvinyl alcohol reaction products were prepared. A carbamate polyphenol compound (CPC) was prepared by the reaction of diisocyanate with phenolic compounds. A new type of photoactive compound (PAC), carbamate polyphenol diazonaphthoquinone sulfonate (CPC-2,1,4-DNQ), was obtained by further reaction with 2,1,4-diazonaphthoquinone sulfonyl chloride. i-line photoresists were formed by the polyvinyl alcohol reaction products and commercial phenolic resin together with CPC-2,1,4-DNQ or photoradical initiators, and preliminary imaging properties of the photoresists were evaluated.
The product polyvinyl alcohol-phthalic anhydride (PVA-PA) was prepared by esterification reaction of polyvinyl alcohol and phthalic anhydride, and i-line positive photoresist was formed by the PVA esterified product and CPC-2,1,4-DNQ. The alkali solubility of PVA-PA is too strong to obtain good imaging quality. Therefore, di-tert-butyl dicarbonate was used to esterify a part of the carboxyl group in PVA-PA to obtain reaction product (PVA-PA-t-BHP), which was combined with CPC-2,1,4-DNQ to form i-line positive photoresist. When the exposure dose was about 300 mJ/cm2, a clear pattern is obtained with 5 μm line width.
Glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) was used to react with a part of carboxyl groups in the product PVA-PA to try to introduce methacrylate group into the PVA modified product polyvinyl alcohol-phthalic anhydride - glycidyl methacrylate (PVA-PA-GMA), which was combined with small molecule multi-functional methacrylate and photoradical initiator to form UV negative photoresist. The photoresist was uniformly coated onto the copper clad panel. When the exposure dose was at 50~100 mJ/cm2, the clear pattern was obtained after developed with 2 wt% sodium silicate solution. The polyvinyl alcohol-p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (PVA-PHBA) product was prepared by the acetal reaction of polyvinyl alcohol and p-hydroxybenzaldehyde. The product was combined with CPC-2,1,4-DNQ to form i-line positive photoresist. When the exposure dose was about 800 mJ/cm2, the imaging pattern was obtained with line width resolution of 5 μm. The experiments show that the photosensitivity of the photoresist is low because of the low alkali solubility of the PVA acetal reaction product.
Finally, the imaging performance and hydrofluoric acid corrosion resistance of several photoresists on glass substrate were tested. Compared with that of phenolic resin and poly (p-hydroxy styrene) derivatives, the photoresists composed of PVA reaction products have stronger adhesion and better hydrofluoric acid corrosion resistance on glass substrate, and have potential application prospect.