Adhesion of Electron-Irradiated Diazoquinone–Novolac Photoresist Films to Single-Crystal Silicon

In this work, the effect of irradiation with 5-MeV electrons on the adhesive and strength properties of the films of diazoquinone–novolac photoresists FP9120, SPR-700, and S1813 G2 SP15 deposited on single-crystalline silicon wafers by spin-coating has been studied using the indentation method. It has been established that irradiation leads to an increase in the true microhardness of the photoresist films, most pronounced in SPR-700 films, caused by the crosslinking of phenol–formaldehyde resin molecules. It has been shown that the values of the specific peeling energy G of photoresist films on silicon increase upon irradiation as a result of the recombination of radicals at the photoresist/silicon interface with the formation of new covalent bonds Si–C and Si–O–C. The observed experimental results are explained taking into account the radiation-chemical and relaxation processes occurring in the bulk of the polymer film and at the interface.