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Medusa 84 samples were furthermore stored for 3.5 months at -30 °C, at 0 °C, and at room temperature. Surprisingly, there was hardly any difference between the three storage conditions with respect to the quality of the resist. Regardless of the storage temperature, all samples exhibited a minimum line width between 3.6 and 4.2 nm.
In line with our responsibility toward users and employees, we have investigated alternatives to replace these removers and identified carbonate-based solvents as promising candidates. Our new remover, AR 300-77, consists of a mixture of propylene carbonate and diethyl carbonate and can be used without risk in compliance with all relevant safety standards.
Thanks to its excellent stability, we can now extend the shelf life of Electra 94 to two years. Ongoing continuous quality control will provide information on whether extending the shelf life beyond two years is possible.
Allresist will soon offer ready-to-use resists as a replacement for HSQ in three different layer thicknesses: 50 nm (4,000 rpm, 4 % solids), 100 nm (4,000 rpm, 7 % solids), 400 nm (4,000 rpm, 23 % solids) → 1.0 µm / 800 rpm
Through a targeted synthesis which precisely separates the stable and sensitive molecular fraction of the HSQ polymer, and through complex cleaning procedures, it is possible to offer a significantly more stable resist.
At AMOLF, Electra 92 was applied to HSQ deposited on a 40 nm thick SiO2 layer of a silicon wafer. Due to its highly hydrophobic surface, HSQ is particularly challenging. A specially adapted version of Electra 92 was required for this task.
In contrast to Medusa 82, the optical transparency of Medusa 84 SiH is significantly higher, since it is made of purely inorganic components. This transparency is important for a large group of customers who use such resists for optical applications.
Due to the high sales volume, AR-P 672.045 is our internal “market leader”. This resist is used by three major microchip manufacturers in France, Germany, and China. The consumption is thus steadily increasing, and meanwhile more than 300 liters of this resist are ordered annually.
Right from the beginning, the idea of sustainability was firmly anchored in the philosophy of our young company. One of the first advanced developments of Allresist was the replacement of teratogenic solvents in the positive photoresist AR-P 351 with safer solvents. This is how the standard resist AR-P 3510 was created, in which the excellent lithographic properties of AR-P 351 were retained, but the resist was now significantly less dangerous to health for the user.
We have now achieved a quality of aniline polymers that does not require the addition of isopropanol, which also increases the stability of AR-PC 5092 resist mixtures. Long-term tests demonstrated that the storage stability is significantly higher than with previous Electra variants.