Evaluations of KOH solution as an effective developer for chemical amplified resist UVIII

• KOH solution as an alternative developer to CD26 are systematically studied.
• Sensitivity, contrast and lithography capability of KOH solution have been characterized.
• KOH solution exhibits the same EBL property as CD26 developer in UVIII resist.
• Advantages of KOH solution as a developer over CD26 are discussed.

This paper reports our evaluative work on diluted KOH solution as a developer in electron beam lithography (EBL) for the chemically amplified resist UVIII. The EBL performance of UVIII with KOH developer has been systematically assessed and compared with that of the conventional CD26 developer. The contrast curve method is used to characterize both contrasts and sensitivities with various concentrations of KOH in deionized water. It has been demonstrated that the diluted KOH is as good a developer as CD26. However, KOH clearly shows a number of advantages over CD26, including improved cost-effectiveness (1/1000 the cost), more environmentally friendly properties, reduced toxicity and a longer lifetime. The quality of EBL when using KOH as a developer will be detailed in this paper, and the comparison of KOH with CD26 will be discussed.

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