Plasma-assisted discharges and charging in EUV-induced plasma

Kerkhof, Mark van de; Yakunin, A. M.; Kvon, Vladimir; Cats, Selwyn; Heijmans, Luuk; Chaudhuri, M.; Asthakov, Dmitry

doi:10.1117/1.jmm.20.1.013801

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…14,15 More recently, with the ever-shrinking length scales in nanomanufacturing, using the surface-charge-driven interaction between contaminating nanoparticles and photon-induced plasmas may become the only route to effective nanoparticle contamination control. 16 Although it has drawn the attention of the entire research community, thus far the fundamental interaction between plasma and particles on the nm size scale has been largely unexplored. This is mostly because of the nonexistence of experimental data needed to verify the few modeling efforts available in the literature.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum dot photoluminescence as a versatile probe to visualize the interaction between plasma and nanoparticles on a surface

Marvi

Donders

Hasani

et al. 2021

Applied Physics Letters

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum dot photoluminescence as a versatile probe to visualize the interaction between plasma and nanoparticles on a surface

Marvi

Donders

Hasani

et al. 2021

Applied Physics Letters

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“…As outlined in section 3.4.2, photoelectric effect is significant in the vicinity of mirrors or reticle, and more electrons will actually be generated from the surface by photoemission than by gas ionization. This results in transient positive charging of the reticle frontside to ~30 V during the EUV pulse 65 , as shown in fig. 20.…”

Section: Reticle Mini-environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The reticle is floating, with independent conductive backside and frontside layers. 66 The surrounding surfaces, such as reticle masking blades, uniformity correction blades and other plasma-facing walls are conductive and grounded. As outlined in Sec.…”

Section: Reticle Mini-environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is irradiated with an EUV beam from the illuminator and reflects the light back into the projection optics, with a diffraction pattern containing the reticle pattern information. The reticle is floating, with independent conductive backside and frontside layers 65 . The surrounding surfaces, such as reticle masking blades, uniformity correction blades and other plasma-facing walls are conductive and grounded.…”

Section: Reticle Mini-environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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EUV-induced hydrogen plasma: pulsed mode operation and confinement in scanner

Kerkhof

Yakunin

Astakhov

et al. 2021

J. Micro/Nanopattern. Mats. Metro.

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In recent years, EUV lithography scanner systems have entered high-volume manufacturing for state-of-the-art integrated circuits, with critical dimensions down to 10 nm. This technology uses 13.5-nm EUV radiation, which is shaped and transmitted through a near-vacuum H 2 background gas. This gas is excited into a low-density H 2 plasma by the EUV radiation, as generated in pulsed mode operation by the laser-produced plasma in the EUV source. Thus, in the confinement created by the walls and mirrors within the scanner system, a reductive plasma environment is created that must be understood in detail to maximize mirror transmission over the lifetime and to minimize molecular and particle contamination in the scanner. In addition to the irradiated mirrors, reticle, and wafer, the plasma and radical load to the surrounding construction materials also must be considered. We provide an overview of the EUV-induced plasma in the scanner context. Special attention is given to the plasma parameters in a confined geometry, such as that found in the scanner area near the reticle. It is shown that plasma confinement and resulting contributions from secondary electron emission delay the formation of the plasma sheath and thereby reduce the peak ion energies to below the sputtering threshold for mirrors and construction materials. Furthermore, for a confined pulsed plasma with a pulse period shorter than the decay time of the plasma, the plasma consists of a quasi-steady-state cold background plasma and periodic transient peaks in ion energy and ion flux. In terms of modeling, this means that no assumptions can be made on the electron distribution functions and a (Monte-Carlo) particle-in-cell (PIC) model is needed. We present an extension of the PIC model approach to complex three-dimensional geometries and to multiple pulses using a hybrid PIC-diffusion approach. Also, the translation of these specific plasma parameters to off-line setups and the aspects that must be included to make a meaningful translation from off-line laboratory EUV setups to the scanner plasma are discussed. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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“…Connected to that, electrically floating surfaces are known to accumulate negative charge, i.e. an excess of electrons, when exposed to, for instance, radiofrequency (RF) [8,9] or extreme ultravioletinduced [10] plasmas since the electrons possess higher mobility compared to ions. Charge accumulation on these surfaces is studied to account for various phenomena such as particle lofting [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum dot photoluminescence as charge probe for plasma exposed surfaces

Hasani

Klaassen²,

Marvi³

et al. 2022

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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Quantum dots (QDs) are used as nanometer-sized in-situ charge probes for surfaces exposed to plasma. Excess charges residing on an electrically floating surface immersed in a low pressure argon plasma are detected and investigated by analysis of variations in the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of laser excited QDs that were deposited on that surface. The experimentally demonstrated redshift of the PL spectrum peak is linked to electric fields associated with charges near the QDs' surfaces, a phenomenon entitled the quantum-confined Stark effect. Variations in the surface charge as a function of plasma input power result in different values of the redshift of the peak position of the PL spectrum. The values of redshift are detected as 0.022 nm and 0.073 for 10 W and 90 W plasma input powers, respectively; therefore indicating an increasing trend. From that, a higher microscopic electric field, 9.29×106 V/m for 90 W compared to 3.29×106 V/m for 10 W input power, which is coupled to an increased electric field in the plasma sheath, is sensed by the QDs when plasma input power is increased.

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Plasma-assisted discharges and charging in EUV-induced plasma

Cited by 10 publications

References 33 publications

Quantum dot photoluminescence as a versatile probe to visualize the interaction between plasma and nanoparticles on a surface

Quantum dot photoluminescence as a versatile probe to visualize the interaction between plasma and nanoparticles on a surface

EUV-induced hydrogen plasma: pulsed mode operation and confinement in scanner

Quantum dot photoluminescence as charge probe for plasma exposed surfaces

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