Improvements on pattern fidelity at high curvature region of curvilinear mask with a novel method of MPC

Ai Kaneko; Taigo Fujii; Itaru Ono; Ahmad Syukri; Yohei Torigoe; Mincheol Kim; Sukho Lee; Eok Bong Kim; Sanghee Lee

doi:10.1117/12.2686942

21 November 2023 Improvements on pattern fidelity at high curvature region of curvilinear mask with a novel method of MPC

Ai Kaneko, Taigo Fujii, Itaru Ono, Ahmad Syukri, Yohei Torigoe, Mincheol Kim, Sukho Lee, Eok Bong Kim, Sanghee Lee

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12751, Photomask Technology 2023; 127510U (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2686942
Event: SPIE Photomask Technology + EUV Lithography, 2023, Monterey, California, United States

Abstract

Curvilinear mask is getting more widely used as a key technique for resolution enhancement with the progress of feature size shrinkage and multi-beam mask writers (MBMW) adoption. However, it is challenging to print curvilinear pattern accurately, which makes mask process correction (MPC) indispensable for curvilinear mask data preparation. It is known that pattern fidelity degrades at high curvature region by process blur. This degradation leads to various issues such as curvature loss and poor CD quality on printed curvilinear masks. Furthermore, due to anamorphic lithography systems, high-NA mask data is likely to contain patterns with higher curvatures compared to 0.33NA mask. Therefore, improving the accuracy of MPC on high curvature region is becoming more important. In this paper, we present a novel MPC method which deforms shape of high curvature region of any curvilinear pattern aggressively to achieve good fidelity. Using simulation and printed results of ellipse patterns with various curvatures, we will show that this MPC technique can improve pattern fidelity in regions of high curvature.

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Ai Kaneko, Taigo Fujii, Itaru Ono, Ahmad Syukri, Yohei Torigoe, Mincheol Kim, Sukho Lee, Eok Bong Kim, and Sanghee Lee "Improvements on pattern fidelity at high curvature region of curvilinear mask with a novel method of MPC", Proc. SPIE 12751, Photomask Technology 2023, 127510U (21 November 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2686942

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