Interference harmonics and rigorous EM spectrum analysis method for low-k1 CD Bossung tilt correction

Shuo-Yen Chou; Hoi-Tou Ng; Yi-Yin Chen; Chien-Fu Lee; Ru-Gun Liu; Tsai-Sheng Gau

doi:10.1117/12.2010599

Translator Disclaimer

12 April 2013 Interference harmonics and rigorous EM spectrum analysis method for low-k₁ CD Bossung tilt correction

Shuo-Yen Chou, Hoi-Tou Ng, Yi-Yin Chen, Chien-Fu Lee, Ru-Gun Liu, Tsai-Sheng Gau

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8683, Optical Microlithography XXVI; 868315 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2010599
Event: SPIE Advanced Lithography, 2013, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

This paper discusses the CD Bossung tilt phenomena in low-k1 lithography using interference harmonics and rigorous EM spectrum analysis. Interference harmonics analysis is introduced to explain the interaction of diffraction orders in the focal region leading to this abnormal CD behavior. This method decomposes the vector image formula into a superposition of cosine components to describe the interference of diffraction orders. The symmetry properties of components of an optical projection system were investigated to find out three potential sources for the asymmetric Bossung behavior, namely mask 3D (M3D) effect, lens aberration, and wafer reflectivity. Under good lens aberration and substrate reflectivity controls, the M3D effect accounts for most of the CD Bossung tilt. A rigorous EM mask spectral analysis was performed to reveal the impact of mask topography on the near-field intensity of mask transmission and the far-field image formation. From the analysis, the asymmetric phase distribution in the mask spectrum is the root cause for CD Bossung tilt. Using both the interference harmonics and the rigorous EM spectrum analysis, the effect of various resolution enhancement techniques (RET) to the Bossung tilt is also studied to find the best RET combination for M3D immunity. In addition, a pupil optimization algorithm based on these two analyses is proposed to generate the phase compensation map for M3D effect counteraction.

Citation Download Citation

Shuo-Yen Chou, Hoi-Tou Ng, Yi-Yin Chen, Chien-Fu Lee, Ru-Gun Liu, and Tsai-Sheng Gau "Interference harmonics and rigorous EM spectrum analysis method for low-k₁ CD Bossung tilt correction", Proc. SPIE 8683, Optical Microlithography XXVI, 868315 (12 April 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2010599

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE