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Within the joint european project "JESSI E 162" we pursue deep UV image processing for 0.35 pm lithography in chip production. To reach this goal, major advancements have to be made in three areas: stepper, resist and track. In this paper, the status of the JESSI positive deep UV resist is presented.Based on the SUCCESS resist concept a stable resist process was developed. The major achievements are: Iinewidth stability for 0.35 pm lines and larger ones during delay times up to 120 mm between exposure and PEB, 0.24 pm lines stable for 30 mm, linearity down to 0.35 pm (NA 0.42), resolution of 0.22 pm with phase-shift mask (NA 0.42), dry etch resistance better than conventional novolac resists.

Device manufacturers and lithographic equipment makers are presently preparing for circuit production at design rules of 0.35 im. It is evident that optical steppers will be the production tools, but the choice between i-line and deep UV (DUV) steppers (248 nm) is still a matter of debate. This paper reports the progress made in the development of DUV steppers for production purposes. As a successor to the earlier DUV machine, discussed at the SPIE conference in 1 990, which uses a TTL alignment system and automatic excimer laser wavelength control, a new DUV stepper has recently been developed with a new lens at 248 nm wavelength, a 29.7 mm diameter field and an numerical aperture (NA) of 0.5. The stepper body is similar to that of the wide field, i-line systems which have been in production since 1 991. The key design parameters and results will be reported, including imaging performance down to 0.25 tm in both negative and positive resists and a high overlay accuracy based on the TTL alignment system. The capability of matching with i-line systems will also be reported.