Communication theory in optical lithography

Rieger, Michael L.

doi:10.1117/1.jmm.11.1.013003

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…1,2 While computational lithography relies on lithographic simulation to faithfully model the lithographic system, the patterning process from the photomask to wafer is a stochastic process, and significant noise and parameter uncertainties make an accurate prediction difficult. 3,4 One category of such uncertainties in the lithography system can be the photomask shape uncertainty. 5 The mask in lithography is made by e-beam writing, and can be imperfect with significant errors on the critical dimension (CD), which can influence the intra-field CD uniformity on the final wafer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating photomask shape uncertainty in computational lithography

Liu

Erdmann

et al. 2016

SPIE Proceedings

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The lithographic performance of a photomask is sensitive to shape uncertainty caused by manufacturing and measurement errors. This work proposes incorporating the photomask shape uncertainty in computational lithography such as inverse lithography. The shape uncertainty of the photomask is quantitatively modeled as a random ?eld in a level-set method framework. With this, the shape uncertainty can be characterized by several parameters, making it computationally tractable to be incorporated in inverse lithography technique (ILT). Simulations are conducted to show the eâ¬ectiveness of using this method to represent various kinds of shape variations. It is also demonstrated that incorporating the shape variation in ILT can reduce the mask error enhancement factor (MEEF) values of the optimized patterns, and improve the robustness of imaging performance against mask shape ?uctuation

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating photomask shape uncertainty in computational lithography

Liu

Erdmann

et al. 2016

SPIE Proceedings

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“…With most RET approaches, certain spatial frequencies are necessarily diminished to improve image contrast, and increasingly strict constraints (design rules) are put on design-layout shapes and configurations to ensure their printability with the remaining spatial frequencies. 7 It is not possible to resolve pitches below 0.5 λ∕NA and, as pattern pitches approach that limit, design, and mask layouts are constrained to resemble uniform arrays of features. Over the past decade, RETs have roughly doubled the useful pitchresolving capabilities of optical tools, as indicated with the orange shaded region in Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrospective on VLSI value scaling and lithography

Rieger¹

2019

J. Micro/Nanolith. MEMS MOEMS

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In recent decades, the rate of shrinking integrated-circuit components has slowed as challenges accumulate. Yet, in part by virtue of an accelerating rate of cleverness, the end-user value of new semiconductor processes steadily advances. On top of the miniaturization benefits delivered by optical lithography, value is boosted by innovations in wafer processing, mask synthesis, materials and devices, microarchitecture, and circuit design. Focusing on three decades of microprocessor data enables quantification of how innovations from those domains have contributed over time to integrated-circuit "value scaling" in terms of performance, power, and cost. At some point, lateral shrinking will end altogether and the kinds of ingenuity emerging from those domains may provide clues for how very large-scale integration value creation will advance beyond that point.

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“…However, the accuracy is usually obstructed by the uncertainties that exist broadly in the system [1]. The popular uncertainty concern includes the dose and defocuses, making the size of process window a main metric for evaluating lithographic performance [2], [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of photomask shape uncertainties on computational lithography

Lam

2016

2016 China Semiconductor Technology International Conference (CSTIC)

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We devise an algorithm that can incorporate the photomask shape uncertainties in computational lithography such as inverse lithography technique. The photomask patterns are expressed by a random field under a level-set framework to represent the uncertain shape variation. The Karhunen-Loève expansion is introduced so that only several parameters are used to delineate the random field, and thus it can be incorporated into the optimization algorithm in inverse lithography. Simulations show that this method is effective to improve the lithographic imaging performance.

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Communication theory in optical lithography

Cited by 17 publications

References 27 publications

Incorporating photomask shape uncertainty in computational lithography

Incorporating photomask shape uncertainty in computational lithography

Retrospective on VLSI value scaling and lithography

Impact of photomask shape uncertainties on computational lithography

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