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Developer: TMAH UV-lithography

Tool description
The Developer TMAH UV-lithography is a fully automatic and programmable cassette-to-cassette system, which can be used for post-exposure baking and development of UV resists on 100 mm and 150 mm substrates. The development is done using AZ 726 MIF, which is a 2.38% TMAH solution with wetting agent.

The developer dispense, puddle time, agitation, rinse and drying is controlled by the tool.

Product:	Süss MicroTec Gamma 2M developer
Year of purchase:	2014
Location:	Cleanroom E-4

Chuck size and lift pins
Link to information about developer chuck size and hotplate pin positions.

User manual
The user manual and contact information can be found in LabManager - requires login

Tool training
Training on the tool requires users to complete the lithography TPT followed by the online tool training and a hands-on authorization training.
The tool training video is part of the online tool training, but can also be viewed here.

Equipment performance and process related parameters

Tool purpose	Development of: AZ nLOF 2020 AZ MIR 701 AZ 5214E AZ 4562 Development of DUV resists: KrF M230Y KrF M35G
Developer	AZ 726 MIF (2.38% TMAH)
Development method	Puddle
Handling method	Vacuum chuck for 100 mm & 150 mm wafers
Process temperature	Room temperature
Process agitation	1 cycles per 30 seconds
Process rinse	DI water
Substrate sizes	100 mm wafers 150 mm wafers
Substrate materials	Silicon or glass substrates Film, or pattern, of all materials except Type IV
Substrate batch size	1-25
Media flow rates	AZ 726 MIF (TMAH): 230 ml/min Topside rinse DI water: 400 ml/min (with BSR+CR active) Backside rinse DI water: 55 ml/min (with TSR+CR active) Process Nitrogen: 50 l/min

Process information

Processing on Developer TMAH UV-lithography consists of the following steps:

Post-exposure bake
Puddle development
Rinse

Features of Developer TMAH UV-lithography:

Cassette-to-cassette wafer handling
In-line hotplates
In-line cool plate
Puddle developer module with rinse and dry

Post-exposure baking

Chemically amplified resists and cross-linking negative resists must be baked after exposure in order to finish the process initiated by the exposure light. Post-exposure bake, or PEB, is carried out on one of the two hotplates. After baking, the wafer is cooled for 20 seconds on the 20°C cool plate.

Puddle Development

Development on Developer TMAH UV-lithography is divided into the following steps:

Pre-wet
Puddle dispense
Development
Spin-off

Pre-wet may be done using developer or DI water, or it may be skipped. It consists of a short dispense at medium spin speed (2s @ 1200 rpm).

Puddle dispense is done by dispensing developer (AZ 726 MIF) to the center of the wafer in order to build up a puddle of developer on the wafer. During the dispense, the wafer may be stopped or rotating slowly (30 rpm). The developer is dispensed at a rate of approximately 225 ml/min. A dispense time of 3s, and 7s is used for 4", and 6" wafers, respectively, corresponding to a volume of 11 ml, and 26 ml, respectively.

Development is carried out by leaving the developer puddle on the wafer for the duration of the development time (puddle time). The rotation is stopped during the development, but the developer may be agitated by rotating the wafer a few turns at low speed, e.g. 2s @ 30 rpm halfway through the development time, in order to facilitate good uniformity.

Spin-off is designed to stop the development by removing the developer from the wafer before the rinse. It is usually carried out as a short spin at high speed (3s @ 4000 rpm), but may be omitted.

Processes are divided into single puddle (SP), double puddle (DP), and multiple puddle (MP).

Rinse

After development, the substrate is rinsed using DI water, and dried using nitrogen.

The standard rinse and dry procedure is 30s at 4000 rpm with DIW being administered from the top at the center of the substrate, followed by a 10-15s dry at 3000 rpm using nitrogen from the top at the center of the substrate. The top side rinse is at a rate of approximately 500 ml/min, corresponding to 250 ml DIW during the rinse. The flow rate of the nitrogen is 50 l/min, and the drying time is set according to the size of the substrate.

Process recommendations

Recommended parameters for development of different resists. Information about exposure dose can be found here: Information on UV exposure dose

2 µm AZ nLOF 2020

PEB: 60s @ 110°C
Development: SP 30s. For lift-off, use SP 60s (sidewall angle ~15°)

1.5 µm AZ MiR 701

PEB: 60s @ 110°C
Development: SP 60s

1.5 µm AZ 5214E

No PEB
Development: SP 60s

2.2 µm AZ 5214E (image reversal)

Reversal bake: 60s-120s @ 110°C
Flood exposure: ~500 mJ/cm²
Development: SP 60s

6.2 µm AZ 4562

No PEB
Development: MP 3x60s

10 µm AZ 4562

No PEB
Development: MP 4x60s or MP 5x60s

Standard Processes

NB: The list of standard processes is not necessarily complete, as new processes are added over time.

Development (only)

Development sequences on Developer TMAH UV-lithography are grouped in the sequence number range 1000-1999 and are divided into the following steps: Pre-wet, puddle dispense, development, spin-off, and finally rinse and dry.

Single puddle:

(1001) DCH 100mm SP 30s
(1002) DCH 100mm SP 60s
(1004) DCH 100mm SP 90s
(1003) DCH 100mm SP 120s
(1005) DCH 150mm SP 60s

Multiple puddle:

(1019) DCH 100mm MP 3x60s
(1010) DCH 100mm MP 4x60s
(1012) DCH 100mm MP 5x60s
(1018) DCH 100mm MP 7x60s
(1017) DCH 100mm MP 10x60s
(1006) DCH 150mm MP 3x60s

Each of these sequences start with a 2s pre-wet at 1200 rpm using developer. The puddle dispense is done at a rotation of 30rpm. The dispense time is 3s, and 7s, corresponding to a volume of 11 ml, and 26 ml, for 100mm, and 150mm, respectively. The development (puddle time) is split in two by an agitation step of 2s at 30rpm (one rotation). Spin-off is 3s at 4000rpm. Finally, the wafer is rinsed as described above. The multiple puddle sequences repeat the dispense, development, and spin off steps a number of times before the rinse.

Special sequences:

DCH 100mm SP 60s no spin-off

As DCH 100mm SP 60s except the spin-off step is omitted. The development is thus terminated by the rinse (30s @ 4000rpm). This may help in case of scumming problems.

Post-exposure baking (only)

Chemically amplified resists and cross-linking negative resists must be baked after exposure (Post-Exposure Bake, PEB) in order to finish the process initiated by the exposure light. The PEB sequences are grouped in the sequence number range 2000-2999:

(2001) DCH PEB 110C 60s
(2002) DCH PEB 110C 120s

The baking is done at 110°C followed by a cooling step at 20°C for 20 seconds.

Combined PEB and development

For convenience, the PEB and development function of the machine may be combined in one sequence. The PEB + development sequences are grouped in the sequence number range 3000-3999:

(3001) DCH 100mm PEB60s@110C+SP60s
(3005) DCH 100mm PEB60s@110C+SP30s
(3010) DCH 150mm PEB60s@110C+SP60s

The sequences are a combination of [substrate size] + [PEB at temperature and time] + [development for time].