Mr. Nickolas L. Brakensiek Profile

Nickolas L. Brakensiek

Prinicpal Applications Engineer at Brewer Science Inc

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Publications (19)

Proceedings Article | 23 March 2020 Paper

Defect mitigation and characterization in silicon hardmask materials

Vineet Alexander, Shyam Paudel, Glenn Dado, Lucia D'Urzo, Virgil Briggs, Mona Bavarian, Rao Varanasi, Tim Limmer, Nick Brakensiek, Levi Gildehaus, Mike Mesawich, Douglas Guerrero

Proceedings Volume 11326, 113261Q (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2552833

KEYWORDS: Silicon, Particles, Ions, Aluminum, Semiconducting wafers, Scanning electron microscopy, Plasma etching, Lithography

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 20 March 2018 Paper

Optimized plasma etch window of block copolymers and neutral brush layers for enhanced direct self-assembly pattern transfer into a hardmask layer

Nickolas Brakensiek, Kui Xu, Daniel Sweat, Mary Ann Hockey

Proceedings Volume 10589, 105890S (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2297456

KEYWORDS: Etching, Carbon monoxide, Chemistry, Plasma etching, Oxygen, Plasma, Directed self assembly, Nitrogen

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 3 May 2017 Presentation

Molecular force modeling of lithography (Conference Presentation)

Zhimin Zhu, Amanda Riojas, Trisha May, Joyce Lowes, Nickolas Brakensiek, Daniel Sullivan

Proceedings Volume 10147, 101470E (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2257363

KEYWORDS: Optical lithography, Current controlled current source, Computed tomography, Reflectivity, Lithography

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 16 April 2013 Paper

Point-of-use filter membrane selection, start-up, and conditioning for low-defect photolithography coatings

Nick Brakensiek, Michael Cronin

Proceedings Volume 8682, 868228 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2011502

KEYWORDS: Air contamination, Semiconducting wafers, Chemistry, Thin film coatings, Lithography, Intelligence systems, Defect detection, Multilayers, Signal to noise ratio, Optical lithography

Read Abstract +

Recent innovations in device design, including FinFETs and metal gate technologies, have required similar innovation in lithographic materials and process development. Complex processes such as double patterning and multilayer imaging require new and novel material chemistries to meet the rigorous defect level requirements for successful yield. To address these complex processes, new materials for multilayer imaging, including spin-on hardmask layers and thick carbon underlayers, have been introduced. These two types of materials have different roles in the multilayer imaging scheme, and likewise the chemistries that are used in these materials are different. To evaluate the wide variety of materials, it is necessary to be able to install them on a coater-track quickly and efficiently and to ensure that the chosen filter uses the best available filtration settings to provide the best-performing material. Typically end users of point-of-use filters will install a new filter, which will be primed with the best-known method, and purge chemical until a defect baseline is reached. This study examines the interaction between a spin-on hardmask chemistry and membrane materials, examining decreasing pore size and the differential pressure increases. Under these conditions, known issues with particles, microbubbles, or oddly timed defect excursions should be able to be avoided with the proper selection and start-up of the filter. An Entegris IntelliGen^® Mini dispense system with Impact^® 2 filters was used to test different filtration settings on various filtration membranes and determine the best settings for each membrane type. These pumps have the capability to control differential pressure across the filter based upon its operating parameters. Results of this investigation will show that for the spin-on hardmask material, optimizing differential pressure across the filter by adjusting the IntelliGen^® Mini operating parameters will ultimately reduce blanket coat defect levels. As well, reducing pore size yields a greater impact to reduction of post-coat defect counts.

Proceedings Article | 29 March 2013 Paper

Effects of dispense equipment sequence on process start-up defects

Nick Brakensiek, Michael Sevegney

Proceedings Volume 8682, 86822A (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2011671

KEYWORDS: Semiconducting wafers, Particles, Chemical elements, Lithography, Silicon, Metrology, Microfluidics, Chemistry, Solids, Carbon

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 16 April 2011 Paper

Improving material-specific dispense processes for low-defect coatings

Nick Brakensiek, Jennifer Braggin, John Berron, Raul Ramirez, Karl Anderson, Brian Smith

Proceedings Volume 7972, 79722Z (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.879481

KEYWORDS: Semiconducting wafers, Manufacturing, Materials processing, Lithography, Industrial chemicals, Photoresist materials, Photoresist developing, Optical lithography, Bottom antireflective coatings, Wafer testing

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 31 March 2010 Paper

Improving material-specific dispense processes for low-defect coatings

Brian Smith, Raul Ramirez, Jennifer Braggin, Aiwen Wu, Karl Anderson, John Berron, Nick Brakensiek, Carlton Washburn

Proceedings Volume 7639, 763929 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.846642

KEYWORDS: Semiconducting wafers, Particles, Liquids, Manufacturing, Materials processing, Data modeling, Lithography, Intelligence systems, Product engineering, Process engineering

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 11 April 2006 Paper

Reducing bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC) defects: optimizing and decoupling the filtration and dispense process

Nickolas Brakensiek, Gary Martin, Sean Simmons, Traci Batchelder

Proceedings Volume 6153, 61532S (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.656316

KEYWORDS: Semiconducting wafers, Manufacturing, Coating, Polymers, Diffractive optical elements, Molecules, Bottom antireflective coatings, Particles, Liquids, Photoresist materials

Read Abstract +

Semiconductor device manufacturing is one of the cleanest manufacturing operations that can be found in the world today. It has to be that way; a particle on a wafer today can kill an entire device, which raises the costs, and therefore reduces the profits, of the manufacturing company in two ways: it must produce extra wafers to make up for the lost die, and it has less product to sell. In today's state-of-the-art fab, everything is filtered to the lowest pore size available. This practice is fairly easy for gases because a gas molecule is very small compared to the pore size of the filter. Filtering liquids, especially photochemicals such as photoresists and BARCs, can be much harder because the molecules that form the polymers used to manufacture the photochemicals are approaching the filter pore size. As a result, filters may plug up, filtration rates may drop, pressure drops across the filter may increase, or a filter may degrade. These conditions can then cause polymer shearing, microbubble formation, gel particle formation, and BARC chemical changes to occur before the BARC reaches the wafer. To investigate these possible interactions, an Entegris(R) IntelliGen(R) pump was installed on a TEL Mk8^TM track to see if the filtration process would have an effect on the BARC chemistry and coating defects. Various BARC chemicals such as DUV112 and DUV42P were pumped through various filter media having a variety of pore sizes at different filtration rates to investigate the interaction between the dispense process and the filtration process. The IntelliGen2 pump has the capability to filter the BARC independent of the dispense process. By using a designed experiment to look at various parameters such as dispense rate, filtration rate, and dispense volume, the effects of the complete pump system can be learned, and appropriate conditions can be applied to yield the cleanest BARC coating process. Results indicate that filtration rate and filter pore size play a dramatic role in the defect density on a coated wafer with the actual dispense properties such as dispense wafer speed and dispense time playing a lesser role.

Proceedings Article | 11 April 2006 Paper

Microlens formation using heavily dyed photoresist in a single step

Chris Cox, Curtis Planje, Nick Brakensiek, Zhimin Zhu, Jonathan Mayo

Proceedings Volume 6153, 61534E (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.654531

KEYWORDS: Photoresist materials, Microlens, Refractive index, Etching, Silicon, Reactive ion etching, Photomasks, Photoresist developing, Scanning electron microscopy, Microlens array

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 11 April 2006 Paper

Wet-recess process optimization of a developer-soluble gap-fill material for planarization of trenches in trench-first dual damascene process

Carlton Washburn, Nick Brakensiek, Alice Guerrero, Kevin Edwards, Charlyn Stroud, Nicki Chapman

Proceedings Volume 6153, 61532K (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.655734

KEYWORDS: Semiconducting wafers, Etching, Copper, Photoresist processing, Dielectrics, Semiconductor manufacturing, Coating, Silicon, Wet etching, Optical lithography

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 4 May 2005 Paper

Hybrid BARC approaches for FEOL and BEOL intergration

Willie Perez, Stephen Turner, Nick Brakensiek, Lynne Mills, Larry Wilson, Paul Popa

Proceedings Volume 5753, (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.598765

KEYWORDS: Etching, Reflectivity, Photoresist materials, Semiconducting wafers, Chemical vapor deposition, Front end of line, Back end of line, Silicon, Yield improvement, Thin film coatings

Read Abstract +

Spin on bottom anti-reflective coatings were introduced to the semiconductor industry about 20 years ago to help control substrate reflectivity, improve critical dimension (CD) control, and, most importantly, improve depth of focus window, thus improving throughput and yields. Bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC) materials are either inorganic or organic in nature. Inorganic BARCs are chemical vapor deposition (CVD) films that work on the principal of destructive interference to eliminate reflectivity and demand tight thickness control in the BARC layer. In contrast, organic BARCs are generally spin-on polymeric materials that reduce substrate reflectivity by absorbing exposure radiation to provide greater latitude in thickness control. As an added benefit, organic spin-on BARCs also provide a level of planarization efficiency prior to photoresist deposition to improve depth of focus and process window in the photolithography step. As the feature sizes continue to shrink, etching becomes very challenging due to thin ArF photoresist (PR) layers which are much less etch resistant compared to KrF photoresists. The reduced thickness, as well as the reduced etch resistance, of the PR makes it nearly impossible to use the PR as both an imaging and a pattern transfer layer. This has lead to the development of a new class of spin-on “hybrid” BARC materials which not only have improved etch selectivity to the PR due to inorganic functionality but also have the absorbing properties, and hence offer greater process latitude. Hybrid BARC (H-BARC) materials enable the BARC layer to act as both an anti-reflective coating and as a pattern transfer layer in standard etch-back integration schemes. Due to the polymeric functionality associated with H-BARCs, these materials have exceptional gap-fill and planarization properties and can also be used in via-first dual damascene applications where similar etch characteristics between interlayer dielectric materials and the via-fill BARC enable better CD control. This paper will focus on the benefits of ENSEMBLE ARC materials, a new class of spin-on hybrid BARC materials, which can be used in either standard BARC applications or in via-first dual damascene applications which require that the BARC act both as an anti-reflective coating and as a via-fill material to assist in CD control during trench etch processes. This paper demonstrates lithography with 193-nm resists, resist compatibility, via-fill performance, optical properties, and etch rates with different plasma recipes.

Proceedings Article | 4 May 2005 Paper

Throughput increase by adjustment of the BARC drying time with coat track process

Nickolas Brakensiek, Ryan Long

Proceedings Volume 5753, (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.598826

KEYWORDS: Thin film coatings, Semiconducting wafers, Diffractive optical elements, Manufacturing, Solids, Spin dynamics, Scanners, Safety, Chemical reactions, Optical lithography

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 4 May 2005 Paper

Advanced rinse process alternatives for reduction of photolithography development cycle defects

Nickolas Brakensiek, Peng Zhang, Danielle King, Craig Ghelli

Proceedings Volume 5753, (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.598819

KEYWORDS: Semiconducting wafers, Diffractive optical elements, Photoresist materials, Photoresist developing, Particles, Optical lithography, Coating, Control systems, Liquids, Wafer testing

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 14 May 2004 Paper

Wet-recess process optimization of a bottom antireflective coating for the via first dual damascene scheme

Nickolas Brakensiek, Brian Kidd, Carlton Washburn, Earnest Murphy

Proceedings Volume 5376, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.533817

KEYWORDS: Semiconducting wafers, Etching, Diffractive optical elements, Coating, Optical lithography, Thin film coatings, Bottom antireflective coatings, Manufacturing, Photoresist materials, Reactive ion etching

Read Abstract +

The via-first process is unique by the fact that a material is needed to fill the vias to some arbitrary value, with little or no isolated-dense via bias so that the underlying layer underneath the via is protected from the trench etch step. Secondly, this material may have to coat over the surface of the wafer with some chosen thickness again with minimum or no bias to maximize the trench photolithography process window. Finally, the material must be easily removed from the via after the trench etch with no residue, crowning, or fencing. The ideal via fill material would be able to perform all the above listed parameters, but no perfect solution exists yet. The etchback process that is discussed herein, called the solvent etchback (SOLVE) process bypasses these lengthy modules, will fit within today’s manufacturing processes and will have little impact on throughput of the photobay coating tools. The process utilizes industry standard photoresists solvents such as PGMEA, Ethyl Lactate, PGME and existing solvent prewet dispense nozzles in the BARC coater module. Also, this process only requires one material that can both fill the via and act as a BARC during the trench photo step with a user defined thickness on top the wafer that will minimize light reflections coming from the substrate. The process flow for the SOLVE process is: 1. Coat a wafer with a thick BARC to planarize the wafer and minimize isolated-dense bias. 2. Bake the BARC so that it is partially crosslinked. 3. Apply a solvent to the wafer and etchback the BARC to a thickness that suits the trench photo step. 4. Bake the BARC to fully crosslink the BARC. Process variables that can have an affect on the SOLVE process are the softbake temperature and time to modify the BARC thickness on the wafer. Dispense parameters that will modify the post-etch uniformity of the wafer include the dispense time, dispense spin speed and the IDI M450 dispense pressure. The repeatability of the process can be modified by changing the solvent spin off speed and acceleration.

Proceedings Article | 12 June 2003 Paper

Spin-on bottom antireflective coating defect reduction by proper filter selection and process optimization

Nickolas Brakensiek, Brian Kidd, Michael Mesawich, Don Stevens, Barry Gotlinsky

Proceedings Volume 5039, (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.485101

KEYWORDS: Coating, Diffractive optical elements, Manufacturing, Thin film coatings, Semiconducting wafers, Bottom antireflective coatings, Chemistry, Sensors, Digital filtering, Particles

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 30 July 2002 Paper

Bottom antireflective coating processing techniques for via-first dual-damascene processes

Nickolas Brakensiek

Proceedings Volume 4691, (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.474644

KEYWORDS: Diffractive optical elements, Semiconducting wafers, Thin film coatings, Bottom antireflective coatings, Etching, Coating, Copper, Optical lithography, Reflection, Information fusion

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 24 July 2002 Paper

Processing techniques for novel BARC chemistries

Nickolas Brakensiek, Chris Cox, Rama Puligadda

Proceedings Volume 4690, (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.474180

KEYWORDS: Etching, Photoresist materials, Optical properties, Chemistry, Optical lithography, Reflectivity, Refraction, Silica, Absorption, Silicon

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 26 April 2001 Paper

Sub-0.35-um i-line lithography with new advanced bottom antireflective coatings optimized for high-topography and dual-damascene applications

Shreeram Deshpande, Nickolas Brakensiek, Paul Williams, Kelly Nowak, Shelly Fowler

Proceedings Volume 4404, (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.425227

KEYWORDS: Etching, Photoresist materials, Semiconducting wafers, Lithography, Polymers, Reflectivity, Manufacturing, Scanning electron microscopy, Copper, Semiconductors

Read Abstract +

Proceedings Article | 2 June 2000 Paper

Advancements in organic antireflective coatings for dual-damascene processes

Shreeram Deshpande, Xie Shao, James Lamb, Nickolas Brakensiek, Joe Johnson, Xiaoming Wu, Gu Xu, William Simmons

Proceedings Volume 3998, (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.386539

KEYWORDS: Etching, Optical lithography, Metals, Photoresist processing, Copper, Dielectrics, Critical dimension metrology, Photomasks, Semiconductor manufacturing, Semiconductors

Read Abstract +

Showing 5 of 19 publications

View contact details

UPDATE YOUR PROFILE

Is this your profile? Update it now.

Sign into your SPIE.org account

Don’t have a profile and want one?

Create an account on SPIE.org

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years