Cr absorber etch process for extreme ultraviolet lithography mask fabrication

Smith, K. H.; Wasson, James R.; Mangat, Pawitter J. S.; Dauksher, William J.; Resnick, Douglas J.

doi:10.1116/1.1414013

Cited by 24 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Reactive ion etch (RIE) ensures these conditions, but requires the absorber material to chemically react with the etchant gas and to form volatile compounds below 150 • C. Materials with small CD difference before and after etch are preferred [32,33]. Furthermore, the absorber material must have good adhesion to the Ru capping layer, even during cleaning, and with good etch selectivity to Ru.…”

Section: Film Morphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Ni-Al Alloys as Alternative EUV Mask Absorber

et al. 2018

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Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is being industrialized as the next candidate printing technique for high-volume manufacturing of scaled down integrated circuits. At mask level, the combination of EUV light at oblique incidence, absorber thickness, and non-uniform mirror reflectance through incidence angle, creates photomask-induced imaging aberrations, known as mask 3D (M3D) effects. A possible mitigation for the M3D effects in the EUV binary intensity mask (BIM), is to use mask absorber materials with high extinction coefficient κ and refractive coefficient n close to unity. We propose nickel aluminide alloys as a candidate BIM absorber material, and characterize them versus a set of specifications that a novel EUV mask absorber must meet. The nickel aluminide samples have reduced crystallinity as compared to metallic nickel, and form a passivating surface oxide layer in neutral solutions. Composition and density profile are investigated to estimate the optical constants, which are then validated with EUV reflectometry. An oxidation-induced Al L2 absorption edge shift is observed, which significantly impacts the value of n at 13.5 nm wavelength and moves it closer to unity. The measured optical constants are incorporated in an accurate mask model for rigorous simulations. The M3D imaging impact of the nickel aluminide alloy mask absorbers, which predict significant M3D reduction in comparison to reference absorber materials. In this paper, we present an extensive experimental methodology flow to evaluate candidate mask absorber materials.

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Section: Film Morphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Ni-Al Alloys as Alternative EUV Mask Absorber

et al. 2018

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“…It is not unusual, for example, to see etch biases as high as 100 nm. 9 More recently, two methods have been employed to fabricate templates. 10,11 The first method uses a much thinner ͑15 nm͒ layer of Cr as a hard mask.…”

Section: Step and Flash Imprint Lithography S-fil Templatementioning

confidence: 99%

Imprint lithography for integrated circuit fabrication

Resnick

Dauksher

Mancini

et al. 2003

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures Processing, Measurement, and Phenomena

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119

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The escalating cost for next generation lithography (NGL) tools is driven in part by the need for complex sources and optics. The cost for a single NGL tool could exceed $50M in the next few years, a prohibitive number for many companies. As a result, several researchers are looking at low cost alternative methods for printing sub-100 nm features. In the mid-1990’s, several research groups started investigating different methods for imprinting small features. Many of these methods, although very effective at printing small features across an entire wafer, are limited in their ability to do precise overlay. In 1999, Colburn et al. [Proc. SPIE 379 (1999)] discovered that imprinting could be done at low pressures and at room temperatures by using low viscosity UV curable monomers. The technology is typically referred to as step and flash imprint lithography. The use of a quartz template enabled the photocuring process to occur and also opened up the potential for optical alignment of the wafer and template. This article traces the development of nanoimprint lithography and addresses the issues that must be solved if this type of technology is to be applied to high-density silicon integrated circuitry.

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“…It was not unusual, for example, to see etch biases as high as 100 nm. 28 More recently, a much thinner (<15 nm) layer of Cr has been used as a hard mask. Thinner layers still suppress charging during the e-beam exposure of the template, and have the advantage that CD losses encountered during the pattern transfer through the Cr are minimized.…”

Section: The Imprint Maskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanoimprint lithography

Resnick¹

2014

Nanolithography

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Cr absorber etch process for extreme ultraviolet lithography mask fabrication

Cited by 24 publications

References 13 publications

Ni-Al Alloys as Alternative EUV Mask Absorber

Ni-Al Alloys as Alternative EUV Mask Absorber

Imprint lithography for integrated circuit fabrication

Nanoimprint lithography

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