Automatic residue removal for high-NA extreme illumination

James Moon; Byong-Sub Nam; Joo-Hong Jeong; Dong-Ho Kong; Byung-Ho Nam; Dong Gyu Yim

doi:10.1117/12.746850

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1 November 2007 Automatic residue removal for high-NA extreme illumination

James Moon, Byong-Sub Nam, Joo-Hong Jeong, Dong-Ho Kong, Byung-Ho Nam, Dong Gyu Yim

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Proceedings Volume 6730, Photomask Technology 2007; 67304B (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.746850
Event: SPIE Photomask Technology, 2007, Monterey, California, United States

Abstract

An epidemic for smaller node has been that, as the device architecture shrinks, lithography process requires high Numerical Aperture (NA), and extreme illumination system. This, in turn, creates many lithography problems such as low lithography process margin (Depth of Focus, Exposure Latitude), unstable Critical Dimension (CD) uniformity and restricted guideline for device design rule and so on. Especially for high NA, extreme illumination such as immersion illumination systems, above all the related problems, restricted design rule due to forbidden pitch is critical and crucial issue. This forbidden pitch is composed of numerous optical effects but majority of these forbidden pitch compose of photo resist residue and these residue must be removed to relieve some room for already tight design rule. In this study, we propose automated algorithm to remove photo resist residue due to high NA and extreme illumination condition. This algorithm automatically self assembles assist patterns based on the original design layout, therefore insuring the safety and simplicity of the generated assist pattern to the original design and removes any resist residue created by extreme illumination condition. Also we tested our automated algorithm on full chip FLASH memory device and showed the residue removal effect by using commercial verification tools as well as on actual test wafer.

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James Moon, Byong-Sub Nam, Joo-Hong Jeong, Dong-Ho Kong, Byung-Ho Nam, and Dong Gyu Yim "Automatic residue removal for high-NA extreme illumination", Proc. SPIE 6730, Photomask Technology 2007, 67304B (1 November 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.746850

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