Second-level imaging of advanced alternating phase-shift masks using e-beam lithography

Leibold, B.; Butschke, Joerg; Bettin, Lutz; Beyer, Dirk; Irmscher, Mathias; Koepernik, Corinna; Plontke, R.; Vix, Armelle B. E.; Vöhringer, Peter

doi:10.1117/12.518037

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…6 One of these differences is due to the unintended deflection of the primary beam, which causes pattern distortion. 7 The literature discusses a few techniques to solve this problem: adding a charge dissipation layer, 8,9 using a conductive polymer, 10,11 using variable pressure conditions, 12 or utilizing the critical energy. 13 So far, these techniques were not well adopted by the semiconductor industry, except the first one because of its practicality and low cost.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Charge-induced pattern displacement in E-beam lithography

Arat

Klimpel

Zonnevylle³

et al. 2019

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology B, Nanotechnology and Microelectronics: Materials, Processing, Measurement, and Phen

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Electron beam lithography (EBL) requires conducting substrates to ensure pattern fidelity. However, there is an increasing interest in performing EBL on less well-conducting surfaces or even insulators, usually resulting in seriously distorted pattern formation. To understand the underlying charging phenomena, the authors use Monte Carlo simulations that include models for substrate charging, electron beam-induced current, and electric breakdown. Simulations of electron beam exposure of glass wafers are presented, exposing regular patterns which become distorted due to charge-induced beam deflection. The resulting displacements within the patterns are mapped and compared to experimental displacement maps obtained from patterns in PMMA resist on glass substrates. Displacements up to several hundreds of nanometers were observed at a primary beam energy of 50 keV. Also, various scan strategies were used to write the patterns, in the simulations as well as the experiments, revealing their strong effect on pattern distortion, in shape and in magnitude. A qualitative, in some cases even quantitative, good agreement was found between the simulations and the experiments, providing enough confidence in Monte Carlo simulations to predict charge-induced pattern displacement and shape distortion and to find smart scan strategies to minimize the effects of charging.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Charge-induced pattern displacement in E-beam lithography

Arat

Klimpel

Zonnevylle³

et al. 2019

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology B, Nanotechnology and Microelectronics: Materials, Processing, Measurement, and Phen

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Charge dissipation in e-beam lithography with Novolak-based conducting polymer films

2008

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Charging of common resist materials during electron beam (e-beam) writing leads to deflection of the electron beam path, which can result in significant pattern displacement. Here we report a new conducting polymer to eliminate charging. A common approach is to place the conducting layer underneath the e-beam resist layer. Conductivity equal or greater than 10(-4) S cm(-1) has been reported to prevent pattern displacement. Some other properties such as a flat surface layer, chemical inertness and insolubility in both the top resist solvent and the developer are also necessary. The way to achieve all these properties consisted in synthesizing a conducting polymer inside an insulating polymer to form an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) which could combine their properties. Novolak was used as the host polymer and terthiophene (3T) as the monomer to polymerize. Cu(ClO(4))(2) initiates simultaneously the oxidative polymerization of the 3T and its subsequent doping inside Novolak during the bake step in a one-step reaction. Solvent-resistant and homogeneous conducting films with smooth surfaces were achieved. The conductivity was of the order of 10(-2) S cm(-1). Patterning of the top resist was carried out without disturbing its lithographic performance.

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