Insight into the mechanism of different substituents on the zinc-oxo cluster in solubility switching

Abstract

A photoresist based on Zn(MA)n(TFA)6−n (n ≤ 6; MA and TFA are methacrylate and trifluoroacetate, respectively) shows excellent performance in extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL). The material is a mixture based on the ratio of MA and TFA, which could affect the production and reproducibility of the photoresist. In this paper, the structural characteristics and solubility switch mechanism of diverse compositions based on Zn(MA)n(TFA)6−n were systematically investigated using DFT calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Our results reveal the relationship between the structure and properties from an atomistic insight into these compounds with different ligand ratios. Diverse organic ligands can generate different free radicals via decarboxylation after ionization. These radicals could determine the energy landscape of the subsequent solubility switch (chain propagation) in EUVL. In addition, the desired compositions in Zn(MA)n(TFA)6−n were obtained using different temperatures and solvents, which would offer helpful guidance for synthesis and separation experiments.

Graphical abstract: Insight into the mechanism of different substituents on the zinc-oxo cluster in solubility switching

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Feb 2025
Accepted
08 May 2025
First published
14 May 2025

Nanoscale, 2025, Advance Article

Insight into the mechanism of different substituents on the zinc-oxo cluster in solubility switching

F. Yang, Z. Ye, D. Yang, Y. Chen, P. Zhou and F. Gou, Nanoscale, 2025, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D5NR00620A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements