Carbon nanotube EUV pellicle tunability and performance in a scanner-like environment

Timmermans, Marina Y.; Pollentier, Ivan; Korytov, Maxim; Nuytten, Thomas; Sergeant, Stefanie; Conard, Thierry; Meersschaut, Johan; Zhang, Yide; Dialameh, Masoud; Alaerts, Wilfried; Jazaeri, Ehsan; Spampinato, Valentina; Franquet, Alexis; Brems, Steven; Huyghebaert, Cedric; Gallagher, Emily

doi:10.1117/1.jmm.20.3.031010

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…We investigated two types of free-standing CNT films containing either SWCNTs or DWCNTs, which were fabricated as follows. , SWCNTs were collected directly after their synthesis in a floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition reactor onto a microporous filter. Random CNT films were further transferred to a support frame and densified with a solvent .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced Thermal Conductivity of Free-Standing Double-Walled Carbon Nanotube Networks

Mehew,

Timmermans,

Saleta Reig

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Nanomaterials are driving advances in technology due to their oftentimes superior properties over bulk materials. In particular, their thermal properties become increasingly important as efficient heat dissipation is required to realize high-performance electronic devices, reduce energy consumption, and prevent thermal damage. One application where nanomaterials can play a crucial role is extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, where pellicles that protect the photomask from particle contamination have to be transparent to EUV light, mechanically strong, and thermally conductive in order to withstand the heat associated with high-power EUV radiation. Free-standing carbon nanotube (CNT) films have emerged as candidates due to their high EUV transparency and ability to withstand heat. However, the thermal transport properties of these films are not well understood beyond bulk emissivity measurements. Here, we measure the thermal conductivity of free-standing CNT films using all-optical Raman thermometry at temperatures between 300 and 700 K. We find thermal conductivities up to 50 W m −1 K −1 for films composed of double-walled CNTs, which rises to 257 W m −1 K −1 when considering the CNT network alone. These values are remarkably high for randomly oriented CNT networks, roughly seven times that of single-walled CNT films. The enhanced thermal conduction is due to the additional wall, which likely gives rise to additional heat-carrying phonon modes and provides a certain resilience to defects. Our results demonstrate that free-standing double-walled CNT films efficiently dissipate heat, enhancing our understanding of these promising films and how they are suited to applications in EUV lithography.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced Thermal Conductivity of Free-Standing Double-Walled Carbon Nanotube Networks

Mehew,

Timmermans,

Saleta Reig

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…Qualitatively, this links CNT lifetime to transmission: higher transmission means less carbon, so critical carbon density will be reached earlier, and lifetime could be shorter. In practice, this relationship will also depend on other properties of the pellicle (e.g., type of CNT, SWCNT vs DWCNT, CNT manufacturing process, etc), and on the details of EUV irradiation and scanner conditions 20 .…”

Section: Cnt Pelliclementioning

confidence: 99%

EUV pellicle scanner integration for N2 nodes and beyond

Kerkhof¹,

Klein

Seoane

et al. 2023

Optical and EUV Nanolithography XXXVI

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EUV lithography has been adopted worldwide for High-Volume Manufacturing (HVM) of sub-10nm node semiconductors. To support HVM, EUV pellicles were introduced by ASML in 2016. More recently, several novel pellicle materials have been developed to offer higher transmission and support higher source powers. The current focus is on two classes of pellicles to support the upcoming NXE:3800 and the associated N2 node, and beyond: Si-based composites and CNT-based pellicles. In this paper, we will give an overview of scanner integration results of current EUV pellicles, both Si-based composites and CNT-based pellicles. This overview will cover high-level aspects of transmission, imaging, robustness and lifetime; as well as underlying contributors such as EUV-uniformity, EUV-reflectivity, flare and DUV-reflectivity. Reviewing achieved performance will illustrate the suitability of these materials to support advanced nodes in production. Additionally, the anticipated future performance of EUV pellicles when used with increasing EUV source powers and high-NA scanners will be provided.

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“…The results presented in this paper enable the offline testing to continue with confidence. In particular, investigations are ongoing to determine which parameters (related to both scanner and CNT membrane) are the most relevant to decrease the etch rate [9] and extend the anticipated pellicle lifetime during EUV scanner exposures. Ongoing efforts are focused on co-optimization of the scanner (e.g.…”

Section: Ongoing Development Towards Extending Cnt Pellicle Lifetimementioning

confidence: 99%

“…CNTs have high mechanical strength and extreme thermal robustness, which makes them suitable for use under direct EUV irradiation. At this point, we have developed a good understanding of the tunability of CNT parameters to modify membrane transmission, scattering, emissivity and strength [9]. Although the concept of using CNTs for the EUV pellicle is very promising, there are still optimization items for scanner use in manufacturing.…”

Section: Introduction 11 Carbon Nanotubes (Cnts) For Euv Pelliclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

CNT pellicles: recent optimization and exposure results

Bekaert¹,

Gallagher²,

Timmermans³

et al. 2023

Optical and EUV Nanolithography XXXVI

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EUV lithography has been implemented in high volume wafer production. Consequently, maximizing yield is of major importance. One key component to achieve optimal yield is using a pellicle to hold particles out of the focal plane and thereby minimize the printing of defects. The carbon nanotube (CNT) pellicle is a membrane consisting of a network of carbon nanotubes, which demonstrates EUV transmission up to 98%. The challenge is to balance the CNT material parameters for optimal performance in the EUV scanner: low probability for particles to pass, high durability in the scanner environment, while maintaining high transmission and low impact on imaging. While our earlier reporting on full-field CNT pellicle exposures demonstrated minimal impact on imaging, the focus of the current paper is on extended exposures on NXE:3400. In the scanner, the EUV light induces a hydrogen plasma that etches the CNTs, resulting in decreasing membrane density and increasing EUV transmission. In this work, we quantify the CNT pellicle etch rate in a real scanner environment and correlate the findings to those obtained in an offline test setup. Our exposures were performed using two different pellicles, with EUV transmission of 89% and 95%, for up to 3000 wafers. Additionally, we demonstrated the effectiveness of pellicle purification prior to mounting on the reticle, which is important to avoid contamination from the as-fabricated CNT pellicle onto the reticle surface. Current ongoing developments focus on further increasing the pellicle durability in the scanner environment. The presented results demonstrate the potential of a CNT-based pellicle at high EUV powers.

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Carbon nanotube EUV pellicle tunability and performance in a scanner-like environment

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Enhanced Thermal Conductivity of Free-Standing Double-Walled Carbon Nanotube Networks

Enhanced Thermal Conductivity of Free-Standing Double-Walled Carbon Nanotube Networks

EUV pellicle scanner integration for N2 nodes and beyond

CNT pellicles: recent optimization and exposure results

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