Atomic hydrogen cleaning of EUV multilayer optics

Samuel Graham Jr.; Charles A. Steinhaus; W. Miles Clift; Leonard E. Klebanoff; Sasa Bajt

doi:10.1117/12.499373

16 June 2003 Atomic hydrogen cleaning of EUV multilayer optics

Samuel Graham Jr., Charles A. Steinhaus, W. Miles Clift, Leonard E. Klebanoff, Sasa Bajt

Proceedings Volume 5037, Emerging Lithographic Technologies VII; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.499373
Event: Microlithography 2003, 2003, Santa Clara, California, United States

Abstract

Recent studies have been conducted to investigate the use of atomic hydrogen as an in-situ contamination removal method for EUV optics. In these experiments, a commercial source was used to produce atomic hydrogen by thermal dissociation of molecular hydrogen using a hot filament. Samples for these experiments consisted of silicon wafers coated with sputtered carbon, Mo/Si optics with EUV-induced carbon, and bare Si-capped and Ru-B4C-capped Mo/Si optics. Samples were exposed to an atomic hydrogen source at a distance of 200 - 500 mm downstream and angles between 0-90° with respect to the source. Carbon removal rates and optic oxidation rates were measured using Auger electron spectroscopy depth profiling. In addition, at-wavelength peak reflectance (13.4 nm) was measured using the EUV reflectometer at the Advanced Light Source. Data from these experiments show carbon removal rates up to 20 Å/hr for sputtered carbon and 40 Å/hr for EUV deposited carbon at a distance of 200 mm downstream. The cleaning rate was also observed to be a strong function of distance and angular position. Experiments have also shown that the carbon etch rate can be increased by a factor of 4 by channeling atomic hydrogen through quartz tubes in order to direct the atomic hydrogen to the optic surface. Atomic hydrogen exposures of bare optic samples show a small risk in reflectivity degradation after extended periods. Extended exposures (up to 20 hours) of bare Si-capped Mo/Si optics show a 1.2% loss (absolute) in reflectivity while the Ru-B₄C-capped Mo/Si optics show a loss on the order of 0.5%. In order to investigate the source of this reflectivity degradation, optic samples were exposed to atomic deuterium and analyzed using low energy ion scattering direct recoil spectroscopy to determine any reactions of the hydrogen with the multilayer stack. Overall, the results show that the risk of over-etching with atomic hydrogen is much less than previous studies using RF discharge cleaning while providing cleaning rates suitable for EUV lithography operations.

Citation Download Citation

Samuel Graham Jr., Charles A. Steinhaus, W. Miles Clift, Leonard E. Klebanoff, and Sasa Bajt "Atomic hydrogen cleaning of EUV multilayer optics", Proc. SPIE 5037, Emerging Lithographic Technologies VII, (16 June 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.499373

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