A substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate stage configured to support a semiconductor substrate, the substrate stage being rotatable at a predetermined angular velocity, and a discharge device above the substrate stage, the discharge device being configured to discharge a chemical solution onto the semiconductor substrate, and the discharge device including a nozzle arm movable along a radial direction from a central region of the substrate stage to a peripheral region surrounding the central region, a nozzle on the nozzle arm, the nozzle facing the substrate stage, and the nozzle being configured to discharge the chemical solution onto the semiconductor substrate at a predetermined angle relative to a surface of the semiconductor substrate, and an angle changer configured to change the predetermined angle such that the predetermined angle gradually decreases as the nozzle arm moves from the central region to the peripheral region.

Methods of forming optical devices using nanoimprint lithography and etch processes are provided. In one embodiment, a method is provided that includes depositing a first resist layer on a substrate, the substrate having a hardmask disposed thereon, imprinting a first resist portion of the first resist layer with a first single-height stamp, etching the first resist portion of the first resist layer, etching a first hardmask portion of the hardmask corresponding to the first resist portion of the first resist layer, removing the first resist layer and depositing a second resist layer, imprinting a second resist portion of the second resist layer with a second single-height stamp, etching the second resist portion of the second resist layer, and etching a second hardmask portion of the hardmask corresponding to the second resist portion of the second resist layer.

In immersion exposure, a resist pattern forming method suppressing resist pattern defects comprises mounting a substrate formed a resist film thereon and a reticle formed a pattern thereon onto an exposure apparatus, supplying a first chemical solution onto the resist film to selectively form a first liquid film in a local area on the resist film and draining the solution, the first liquid film having a flow and being formed between the resist film and a projection optical system, transferring the pattern of the reticle to the resist film through the first liquid film to form a latent image, supplying a second chemical solution onto the resist film to clean the resist film, heating the resist film, and developing the resist film to form a resist pattern from the resist film.

The present invention provides a method that utilizes an existing infrastructure such as atomic layer deposition or similar vapor-based deposition tool or metal salt solutions based infiltration to infiltrate certain metals or metal-based precursors into resist materials to enhance the performance of the resists for the advancement of lithography techniques.

The present disclosure discloses a photoresist including an ionizable substance capable of being ionized to generate ions under irradiation of UV light, and an etching method using the photoresist.

Embodiments discloses herein describe methods for treating a substrate. In one example, a method of treating a layer of a film stack includes pre-treating a surface of an underlayer of a film stack formed on a substrate and forming a metal oxide in a photoresist layer of the film stack by heating a methyl-containing material in a processing environment proximate a film stack. The film stack includes the photoresist layer disposed on top of and in contact with an underlayer, and the underlayer disposed on top of a substrate. The metal oxide implanted photoresist later is then etched.

A silicon-containing resist underlayer film forming composition for forming a resist underlayer film which is able to be removed not only by a conventional dry etching method but also by a wet etching method that uses a chemical agent, and which has excellent lithography characteristics, while enabling the achievement of a high etching rate during wet etching. A silicon-containing resist underlayer film forming composition which contains (A) a polysiloxane, (B) nitric acid, (C) a bisphenol compound and (D) a solvent.

A method of patterning a thin film includes steps as follows. The thin film is formed. The thin film includes a plurality of first molecules, and each of the first molecules has a conjugated structure. A mask is covered on the thin film. The mask includes at least one exposing area, and the exposing area is correspondent to an illuminated region of the thin film. A solvent annealing and illuminating step is conducted, wherein the thin film covered by the mask is illuminated with a light source under an atmosphere of a first solvent, and a wavelength range of the light source is correspondent to an energy enabling the first molecules to reach an excited state. Thus a thickness of the illuminated region of the thin film is increased or decreased so as to form a pattern on the thin film.

An example flow cell includes a multi-layer stack including a transparent base support; a patterned sacrificial layer over the transparent base support; and a transparent layer over the patterned sacrificial layer. The flow cell further includes first and second functionalized layers over different portions of the transparent layer, wherein at least one of the first and second functionalized layers aligns with a pattern of the patterned sacrificial layer; and first and second primer sets respectively attached to the first and second functionalized layer.

An optical device manufacturing method and an optical device manufacturing apparatus using local etching are characterized in that in a wafer process of manufacturing a waveguide type optical device including a light-propagating core and a cladding, a nozzle which locally performs etching processing is used for movement, and a slanted end surface at an arbitrary angle, an end surface having a curved shape, or a core having a varying film thickness is formed in an arbitrary position on the wafer. A slanted end surface is formed at an optical waveguide end using local etching, for example, a 45 reflective mirror, a light-condensing nonplanar reflective mirror, or a film thickness controlled core is implemented, and high-efficiency optical connection is realized.