Optimization of exposure procedures for sub-quarter-micron CMOS applications

Shoji Hotta; Toshihiko Onozuka; Keiko Fukumoto; Seiichiro Shirai; Shinji Okazaki

doi:10.1117/12.310790

29 June 1998 Optimization of exposure procedures for sub-quarter-micron CMOS applications

Shoji Hotta, Toshihiko Onozuka, Keiko Fukumoto, Seiichiro Shirai, Shinji Okazaki

Proceedings Volume 3334, Optical Microlithography XI; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.310790
Event: 23rd Annual International Symposium on Microlithography, 1998, Santa Clara, CA, United States

Abstract

We investigated various exposure procedures to minimize the Critical Dimension (CD) variation for the patterning of sub- quarter micron gates. To examine dependence of the CD variation on the pattern pitch and defocus conditions, the light intensity profiles of four different mask structures: (1) a binary mask with clear field, (2) a binary mask with dark field, (3) a phase-edge type phase-shifting mask (a phase-edge PSM) with clear field, and (4) a halftone phase- shifting mask (a halftone PSM) were compared, where exposure wavelength was 248 nm and numerical aperture (NA) of KrF stepper was 0.55. For 200-nm gate patterns, dependence of the CD variation on the pattern pitch and defocus conditions was minimized by a phase-edge PSM with clear field. By optimizing the illumination condition for a phase-edge PSM exposure, we obtained the CD variation of 10 nm at the minimum gate pitch of 0.8 micrometer and the defocus condition of plus or minus 0.4 micrometer. Applying the optimized exposure procedure to the device fabrication process, we obtained the total CD variation of plus or minus 27 nm.

Citation Download Citation

Shoji Hotta, Toshihiko Onozuka, Keiko Fukumoto, Seiichiro Shirai, and Shinji Okazaki "Optimization of exposure procedures for sub-quarter-micron CMOS applications", Proc. SPIE 3334, Optical Microlithography XI, (29 June 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.310790

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