EBM-9000: EB mask writer for product mask fabrication of 16nm half-pitch generation and beyond

Takekoshi, Hidekazu; Nakayama, Takahito; Saitô, Kenichi; Ando, H.; Inoue, Hideo; Nakayamada, Noriaki; Kamikubo, Takashi; Nishimura, Rieko; Kojima, Yoshinori; Yashima, J.; Anpo, Akihito; Nakazawa, Seiichi; Iijima, Takafumi; Ohtoshi, Kenji; Anze, Hirohito; Katsap, Victor; Golladay, S. D.; Kendall, Rodney

doi:10.1117/12.2065230

Cited by 15 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The beam blur (1σ b ) was set to 3.7 nm, assuming the latest mask writer EBM-9000 of NuFlare Technology. 2) The beam blur of EBM-9000 was reported to be 9 nm at a 10-90% pattern edge rise (10-90% beam blur). The 1σ b beam blur of 3.7 nm corresponds to the 10-90% beam blur of 9 nm.…”

Section: Simulation Model and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The parameters used in the simulation are summarized in Table I. 2,[14][15][16]21,27,28) The validity of the simulation method has been examined by comparison with Table I. Parameters used in the simulation.…”

Section: Simulation Model and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A highly sensitive resist is preferred to reduce the drawing time of complicated mask patterns. 2) In addition to sensitivity, the surface roughness of the developed resist sidewall, called line edge roughness (LER), is an important factor in the fabrication of photomasks and molds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Theoretical study on effects of exposure pattern width on line edge roughness and stochastic defect generation in fabrication of 16-nm-half-pitch line-and-space patterns by electron beam lithography

Kozawa

Tamura²

2017

Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.

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The resolution of electron beam (EB) mask writers has reached a 16 nm half-pitch. The suppression of stochastic phenomena such as line edge roughness (LER) and stochastic defect generation is an important issue in the high-resolution fabrication of photomasks and nanoimprint molds. In this study, the effects of exposure pattern width on LER and stochastic defect generation were theoretically investigated on the basis of the sensitization and reaction mechanisms of chemically amplified EB resists. The exposure pattern width affected stochastic bridging more than stochastic pinching and LER. The optimum pattern widths for the suppression of stochastic bridging in the fabrication of 16-nm-half-pitch line-and-space patterns were 8, 8, 10, and 12 nm for the sensitivities of 300, 240, 180, and 120 µC cm−2, respectively.

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Section: Simulation Model and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Simulation Model and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Theoretical study on effects of exposure pattern width on line edge roughness and stochastic defect generation in fabrication of 16-nm-half-pitch line-and-space patterns by electron beam lithography

Kozawa

Tamura²

2017

Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.

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“…The name is "Champagne 1", and the layout is shown in Figure 3. An EBM-9000 [6] system was used to manufacture the mask. It has been made compatible with a metal 1 LE 3 flow as can be applied in a 7-nm node technology flow.…”

Section: Experimental Details 21 Mask Details and Registration Measur...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dense mask registration fingerprint characterization to better understand and mitigate the metrology to device offset

van Haren,

Steinert,

Mouraille

et al. 2023

Photomask Technology 2023

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Over the past years, we have demonstrated that off-line mask registration measurements as measured by the Zeiss PROVE tool correlate very well (R2 > 0.96) with the on-wafer measurements. The first correlation study was based on scanner wafer alignment marks. Wafer alignment marks are metrology structures that can be readout by the alignment sensor inside the scanner. After we established the correlation, we continued the investigation by exploring overlay metrology targets. Also in this case, a very good correlation (R2 > 0.92) was found in the sub-nanometer regime. This could be achieved due the fact that overlay metrology targets are much smaller in size compared to the scanner wafer alignment marks. This enables the possibility to measure basically the same target areas by the PROVE and the ASML Yieldstar (YS:375) overlay metrology tool. The resulting residual level between mask and on-wafer measurements was less than 0.14-nm (99.7%) at wafer level (1×). The small mismatch that was remaining could be attributed to local mask writing variations inside the overlay metrology targets. The local variations triggered us to consider the mask writing impact on the placement errors for individual device features. Even for this case at device level, a very good correlation was observed between the mask registration measurements and the on-wafer results. This time, the on-wafer results were obtained by using a large field-of-view SEM. From all the findings above, we can basically conclude that off-line mask registration measurements can be used as overlay predictors in a production environment. This enables computational overlay metrology from scanner alignment marks, to overlay metrology targets, down to single device features. It might be obvious that these findings could be very helpful in predicting the mask overlay contribution as part of the intra-field overlay contribution without actually performing the onwafer measurements and consequently reducing the fab cycle time. At this point, we would like to zoom out and consider how all the acquired knowledge can be utilized in a production environment. Basically, the mask-related local placement errors of all features within the exposure field on a wafer can be predicted accurately based on off-line mask measurements. However, before improving the on-product overlay and hence the yield, more insight is required on how the mask writing fingerprint looks like. Do we see a global fingerprint or do local effects dominate the fingerprint? Is the fingerprint the same for the overlay metrology targets and device? Or do we observe a metrology to device (MTD) offset? In this paper, we will show a dense characterization of the mask registration fingerprint. Off-line measurements were done on overlay metrology targets as well as on a structure representing the device pattern. We will show how the overlay metrology sampling layout selection will impact the device overlay performance. Based on this understanding, we aim at providing a strategy and a path forward on how to mitigat...

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Correction of resist heating effect on variable shaped beam mask writer

Nakayamada¹,

Suganuma²,

Nomura³

et al. 2016

J. Micro/Nanolith. MEMS MOEMS

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EBM-9000: EB mask writer for product mask fabrication of 16nm half-pitch generation and beyond

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

Theoretical study on effects of exposure pattern width on line edge roughness and stochastic defect generation in fabrication of 16-nm-half-pitch line-and-space patterns by electron beam lithography

Theoretical study on effects of exposure pattern width on line edge roughness and stochastic defect generation in fabrication of 16-nm-half-pitch line-and-space patterns by electron beam lithography

Dense mask registration fingerprint characterization to better understand and mitigate the metrology to device offset

Correction of resist heating effect on variable shaped beam mask writer

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