Chinese scientists discover method to cut defects by 99% with DUV chipmaking equipment, but it destroys EUV pattern fidelity — analyzing photoresist clustering with cryo-ET at 105°C

Chinese researchers have visualized how photoresist polymers cluster during development using cryogenic electron tomography and found that slightly raising post-exposure bake temperature could reduce defect density, but the finding has limited practical impact since this temperature is already typical for DUV processes and unsuitable for EUV lithography, where it would harm resolution and yield.