Multiple Patterning - Double Expose, Double Etch (trenches)

Double Expose, Double Etch (trenches)

A "brute force" approach for patterning trenches involves a sequence of (at least) two separate exposures and etchings of independent patterns into the same layer. For each exposure, a different photoresist coating is required. When the sequence is completed, the pattern is a composite of the previously etched subpatterns. By interleaving the subpatterns, the pattern density can theoretically be increased indefinitely, the half-pitch being inversely proportional to the number of subpatterns used. For example, a 25 nm half-pitch pattern can be generated from interleaving two 50 nm half-pitch patterns, three 75 nm half-pitch patterns, or four 100 nm half-pitch patterns. The feature size reduction will most likely require the assistance of techniques such as chemical shrinks, thermal reflow, or shrink assist films. This composite pattern can then be transferred down into the final layer.

A possible application would be, for example, dividing the contact layer into two separate groups: gate contacts and source/drain contacts, each defining its own mask. IMEC recently used an approach like this to demonstrate a 45 nm node 6-transistor SRAM cell using dry lithography .

As with the double-expose, double-etch mesas approach, any discrepancy among the different interleaved patterns would be a source of feature-to-feature variation.