Development of a new PSM film system for 157-nm extensible to high-transmission 193 nm lithography

Becker, Hans; Chey, Jay; Sobel, Frank; Schmidt, Frank; Renno, Markus; Buttgereit, Ute; Angelopoulos, Marie; Hess, Guenter; Knapp, Konrad

doi:10.1117/12.518339

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Our current buffer layer consists of SiO 2 . Analyzing all the parameters that could enhance its properties [6], we succeed to improve the thickness uniformity down to 0.6 nm (STD.3σ) for a mean thickness of 48.5 nm (Fig. 12).…”

Section: New Layers Productionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Update on the EUVL mask blank activity at Schott Lithotec

et al. 2003

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Schott Lithotec has introduced all relevant technology steps to manufacture EUV mask blanks in its advanced quality mask blank manufacturing line -ranging from Low Thermal Expansion Material (LTEM) high quality substrate polishing to low defect blank manufacturing. New polishing and cleaning technologies, improved sputter technology and updated metrology enable us to produce EUVL mask blanks meeting already some of the roadmap requirements. Further R&D is ongoing to path the way to the pilot production of EUV blanks which meet the beta-specifications end of 2005.We present the status of our EUVL substrate program and report on the recent results of our activities for low defect multilayer, buffer and absorber coating including new absorber materials. Recent results from the production of full LTEM EUV blanks with multilayer, buffer and absorber coatings will be presented. Process steps in the EUVL mask blank fabrication in a production environment were characterized in terms of defects; the process improvement potential is discussed. We will also throw a light on the aspects of changed layer properties after a longer period of storage.In addition, special metrology methods for EUVL components are currently being developed within the program. The status of the high throughput EUV-Reflectometer for mask blanks will be presented. We developed new processes to achieve EUVL requirements.

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Section: New Layers Productionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Update on the EUVL mask blank activity at Schott Lithotec

et al. 2003

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“…These benefits include enhanced image contrast, increased exposure latitude (EL) and depth of focus (DOF), and reduced mask error factor (MEF). In addition improved pattern fidelity and resolution have also been cited 13,14 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Impact of new MoSi mask compositions on processing and repair

2010

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The mask industry has recently witnessed an increasing number of new MoSi mask blank materials which are quickly replacing the older materials as the standard in high end mask shops. These new materials, including OMOG (opaque MoSi on glass) and high transmission (Hi-T) films, are driven foremost by the need to reduce feature size through resolution enhancement techniques (RET). The subject of this paper is a new low stress, Hi-T material which addresses the challenges presented by transitioning to smaller technology nodes including difficulties with pattern transfer, cleaning and repair. This material, based on currently employed MoSi films, eliminates process steps and utilizes a thinner overall substrate stack than currently used Hi-T schemes allowing an increase in critical dimension (CD) uniformity and feature resolution and more robustness due to a lower aspect ratio. While this new material is MoSi based the small compositional change requires, in some cases, a significant change in processing. Among the most impacted areas are the etch, clean and repair steps. Given the potential for defects to manifest on masks, repair is an invaluable step that can significantly impact the overall yield and lead to a reduction in cycle time 1 . The Carl Zeiss MeRiT ® electron beam mask repair line provides the most advanced repair capabilities allowing a wide range of repairs to be performed on a number of mask types 2 . In a joint effort between MP Mask Technology Center LLC and Carl Zeiss SMT, this paper focuses on the benefits of the new Hi-T mask blank and the challenges it presents to the repair community. The differences between the new low stress, Hi-T material and current Hi-T technologies are presented and on site compositional analysis is performed with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to illuminate the compositional differences. The development of a repair process for the new material utilizing the on-site Carl Zeiss MeRiT ® MG 45 is presented along with several repairs and their AIMS™ results. KEYWORDSMeRiT ® MG45, AIMS™ 45-193i, mask repair, defect repair, new MoSi materials, Hi-T, high transmission INTRODUCTIONEmbedded attenuated phase shift mask (EAPSM) technology is one of the most utilized RETs in high end mask shops today. The use of MoSi films which allow a small amount of the incident light to be transmitted through the opaque material, commonly 6% at a 180 degree phase shift with respect to the clear regions, allows for higher contrast and the ability to pattern smaller, more complex features than binary masks 3 . However, as the limits of this technology are currently being pushed the need to further reduce feature size and improve the process window has sparked interest in a number of new MoSi based films in order to bridge the gap between current mask manufacturing capabilities and the next technology. The importance of extending MoSi based materials as far as possible can be understood when considering the industry infrastructure. All current tools, materials and processes such as ...

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“…The quartz/Ta/SiO 2 stack for attPSM recently introduced by Schott Lithotec offers some advantages which include independent adjustment of the transmission and the phase shift [9]. By changing the Ta thickness with controlling SiO 2 thickness, we can obtain desired transmission with keeping the 180 o phase shift.…”

Section: Mask Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative study of bi-layer attenuating phase-shifting masks for hyper-NA lithography

Yoshizawa

Philipsen²,

Leunissen

et al. 2006

SPIE Proceedings

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Most IC manufacturers are considering MoSi to be the material of conventional 6% attenuating phase-shifting masks (attPSM) in hyper-NA lithography (50 nm half pitch node and smaller). However, simulation results show that Cr-based binary-intensity mask (BIM) outperforms the attPSM at dense lines and spaces (LS) patterns in hyper-NA lithography. A reason lies in the transmitted polarization state through the mask. The attPSM is found to be a transverse-magnetic polarizer for hyper-NA imaging, while the BIM acts as a transverse-electric polarizer, which is beneficial for imaging. Using a metal-based absorber of the attPSM has potential for improving the degree of polarization of transmitted light. In our previous work absorber thickness of bi-layer attPSM, i.e. Ta/SiO 2 , was optimized through three-dimensional electromagnetic field (3D-EMF) simulations for better imaging performance than the MoSi attPSM.In this study, the thickness-optimized Ta/SiO 2 attPSM was fabricated to compare the imaging performance with the standard Ta/SiO 2 and MoSi attPSMs with 6% transmission and 180 o phase shift. The thickness-optimized Ta/SiO 2 attPSM has 1% transmission due to 50% thicker Ta than the standard, while the 180 o phase shift is controlled by SiO 2 thickness. The exposure latitude of 45 nm LS delineated by using an NA1.20 full-field scanner with xy-polarized cquadrupole was 15.7%, 13.4%, and 10.1% with depth of focus of 200 nm for the optimized Ta/SiO 2 , the standard Ta/SiO 2 , and MoSi, respectively. Line width roughness of the Ta/SiO 2 attPSMs was approximately 5.5 nm for the 45 nm LS, which was comparable to MoSi. Mask-error-enhancement factor (MEEF) of the 45 nm LS was 4.4, 4.9, and 3.8 for the optimized Ta/SiO 2 , the standard Ta/SiO 2 , and MoSi, though the simulation expected MEEF values of 4.1, 5.5, and 6.3, respectively. Because the transmission and the phase shift measured by normal incidence are not linked directly with the imaging performance in the hyper-NA lithography with off-axis illumination, the mask materials and structures need to be optimized by using 3D-EMF simulators for the better imaging quality.

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Development of a new PSM film system for 157-nm extensible to high-transmission 193 nm lithography

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Update on the EUVL mask blank activity at Schott Lithotec

Update on the EUVL mask blank activity at Schott Lithotec

Impact of new MoSi mask compositions on processing and repair

Comparative study of bi-layer attenuating phase-shifting masks for hyper-NA lithography

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