A method includes providing a substrate including mandrels of a first material positioned on an underlying layer. Each of the mandrels includes a first sidewall and an opposing second sidewall. The method further includes forming sidewall spacers made of a second material and including a first sidewall spacer abutting each respective first sidewall and a second sidewall spacer abutting each respective second sidewall. The mandrels extend above top surfaces of the sidewall spacers. The method also includes forming first capped sidewall spacers by depositing a third material on the first sidewall spacers without depositing on the second sidewall spacers, forming second capped sidewall spacers by depositing a fourth material on the second sidewall spacers without depositing on the first sidewall spacers, and selectively removing at least one of the first material, the second material, the third material, and the fourth material to uncover an exposed portion of the underlying layer.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of forming a high-contrast fine pattern onto a resist film. The present invention relates to a pattern forming method, comprising; applying a resist material onto a substrate to form a resist film, introducing a metal into the resist film, exposing, and developing. In addition, the present invention also relates to a resist material and a pattern forming apparatus.

The present disclosure relates to a patterning structure having a radiation-absorbing layer and an imaging layer, as well as methods and apparatuses thereof. In particular embodiments, the radiation-absorbing layer provides an increase in radiation absorptivity and/or patterning performance of the imaging layer.

A method for forming a fluorinated oxostannate film involves vaporizing a volatile fluorinated alkyltin compound having at least two hydrolytically sensitive functional groups or at least two reactive functional groups which are sensitive to oxidation at a temperature greater than 200° C.; providing a substrate; physisorbing or chemisorbing the fluorinated alkyltin compound onto the substrate; and exposing the physisorbed or chemisorbed fluorinated alkyltin compound to a sequence of hydrolysis, irradiation, and/or oxidation steps to form the fluorinated oxostannate thin film on the substrate. Fluorinated alkyltin compounds having formula (I) are also described, in which R.sup.f is a fluorinated or partially fluorinated linear or branched alkyl group having about 1 to about 5 carbon atoms, X is a dialkylamino group having about 1 to about 4 carbon atoms, and n is 1 or 2:

(R.sup.fCH.sub.2).sub.nSnX.sub.(4-n)  (I)

A patterning method includes forming a multilayer photoresist stack on a substrate. The multilayer photoresist stack includes a first layer of a wet photoresist, deposited by spin-on deposition, over a second layer of a dry photoresist, deposited by vapor deposition. The multilayer photoresist stack is exposed to a first pattern of actinic radiation including relative, spatially-varying doses of actinic radiation and including high-dose regions, mid-dose regions and low-dose regions. The multilayer photoresist stack and the first pattern of actinic radiation are configured such that after the exposing the multilayer photoresist stack to the first pattern of actinic radiation, in the high-dose regions, developability of both the first layer and the second layer is changed; in the mid-dose regions, developability of the first layer is changed while developability of the second layer is unchanged; in the low-dose regions, developability of both the first layer and the second layer is unchanged.

Various embodiments described herein relate to methods, apparatus, and systems for treating metal-containing photoresist to modify material properties of the photoresist. For instance, the techniques herein may involve providing a substrate in a process chamber, where the substrate includes a photoresist layer over a substrate layer, and where the photoresist includes metal, and treating the photoresist to modify material properties of the photoresist such that etch selectivity in a subsequent post-exposure dry development process is increased. In various embodiments, the treatment may involve exposing the substrate to elevated temperatures and/or to a remote plasma. One or more process conditions such as temperature, pressure, ambient gas chemistry, gas flow/ratio, and moisture may be controlled during treatment to tune the material properties as desired.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a dopant layer including a dopant composition over a substrate. A resist layer including a resist composition is formed over the dopant layer. A dopant is diffused from the dopant composition in the dopant layer into the resist layer; and a pattern is formed in the resist layer.

Methods of forming structures including a photoresist absorber layer and structures including the photoresist absorber layer are disclosed. Exemplary methods include forming the photoresist absorber layer that includes at least two elements having an EUV cross section (σα) of greater than 2×10.sup.6 cm.sup.2/mol.

The present disclosure provides a module for creating a metal-containing film, including a reactor chamber; an inlet for providing an organo-metallic precursor to the reactor chamber; and an inlet for providing a reactive gaseous species to react with the organo-metallic precursor to form a metal-containing film. The reactive gaseous species includes an element having three to five valence electrons and one or more radicals selected from hydrogen, C.sub.1-C.sub.3 alkyl, and C.sub.1-C.sub.3 alkoxyl. The present disclosure further relates to a method of creating the metal-containing film and a semiconductor structure associated therewith.

Various embodiments herein relate to techniques for depositing photoresist material on a substrate. For example, the tin techniques may involve providing the substrate in a reaction chamber; providing a first and second reactant to the reaction chamber, where the first reactant is an organo-metallic precursor having a formula of M1.sub.aR1.sub.bL1.sub.c, where: M1 is a metal having a high patterning radiation-absorption cross-section, R1 is an organic group that survives the reaction between the first reactant and the second reactant and is cleavable from M1 under exposure to patterning radiation, L1 is a ligand, ion, or other moiety that reacts with the second reactant, a≥1, b≥1, and c≥1, and where at least one of the following conditions is satisfied: the photoresist material comprises two or more high-patterning radiation absorbing elements, and/or the photoresist material comprises a composition gradient along a thickness of the photoresist material.