Paper
8 November 2012 EUVL mask repair: expanding options with nanomachining
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
Mask defectivity is often cited as a barrier to EUVL manufacturing, falling just behind low source power. Mask defectivity is a combination of intrinsic blank defects, defects introduced during the mask fabrication and defects introduced during the use of the mask in the EUV exposure tool. This paper works towards minimizing the printing impact of blank defects so that the final EUVL mask can achieve a lower defectivity. Multilayer defects can be created by a step or scratch as shallow as 1nm in the substrate. These small defects create coherent disruptions in the multilayer that can generate significant variations in mask reflectivity and induce clearly-defined, printable defects. If the optical properties of the defect can be well understood, nanomachining repair processes can be deployed to fix these defects. The purpose of this work is to develop new nanomachining repair processes and approaches that can repair complex EUVL mask defects by targeted removal of the EUVL mask materials. The first phase of this work uses nanomachining to create artificial phase defects of different types and sizes for both printability evaluation and benchmarking with simulation. Experimental results validate the concept, showing a reasonable match between imaging with the LBNL Actinic Inspection Tool (AIT) and simulation of the mask topography measured by AFM. Once the printability of various nanomachined structures is understood, the second phase of the work aims to optimize the process to repair real EUVL mask defects with surrounding absorber patterns.
© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Emily Gallagher, Gregory McIntyre, Mark Lawliss, Tod Robinson, Ronald Bozak, Roy White, and Jeff LeClaire "EUVL mask repair: expanding options with nanomachining", Proc. SPIE 8522, Photomask Technology 2012, 85221L (8 November 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.974749
Lens.org Logo
CITATIONS
Cited by 4 scholarly publications and 7 patents.
Advertisement
Advertisement
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission  Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace
KEYWORDS
Photomasks

Extreme ultraviolet lithography

Multilayers

Extreme ultraviolet

Atomic force microscopy

Near field

Inspection

RELATED CONTENT

EUV photomask defects what prints, what doesn't, and what...
Proceedings of SPIE (October 23 2015)
EUVL: transition from research to commercialization
Proceedings of SPIE (August 28 2003)
Closing the infrastructure gap status of the AIMS EUV...
Proceedings of SPIE (March 22 2012)
Masks for extreme ultraviolet lithography
Proceedings of SPIE (December 18 1998)
Mask technology for EUV lithography
Proceedings of SPIE (April 23 1999)

Back to Top