Mr. Ardavan Niroomand Profile

Ardavan Niroomand

DMTS at Micron Technology Inc

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Author

Publications (14)

Proceedings Article | 12 May 2020 Presentation + Paper

Extending EUV lithography for DRAM applications

Gijsbert Rispens, Claire Van Lare, Dorothe Oorschot, Rik Hoefnagels, Shih-Hsiang Liu, Willem Van Mierlo, Nadia Zuurbier, Zoi Dardani, Ziyang Wang, Mark John Maslow, Jo Finders, Roberto Fallica, Andreas Frommhold, Eric Hendrickx, Ardavan Niroomand, Scott Light

Proceedings Volume 11323, 113230U (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2552067

KEYWORDS: Critical dimension metrology, Semiconducting wafers, Nanoimprint lithography, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Finite element methods, Optical lithography, Photomasks, Extreme ultraviolet, Stochastic processes, Inspection

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Proceedings Article | 26 September 2019 Paper

OPC model building for EUV lithography

Benjamin C. Ho, Jonathan Doebler, Ardavan Niroomand

Proceedings Volume 11147, 1114714 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2531430

KEYWORDS: Photomasks, Extreme ultraviolet, Optical proximity correction, Calibration, Critical dimension metrology, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Deep ultraviolet, Scanners, Semiconducting wafers, Data modeling

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Proceedings Article | 19 March 2015 Paper

Graphoepitaxial and chemoepitaxial methods for creating line-space patterns at 33nm pitch: comparison to a HVM process

Dan Millward, Gurpreet Lugani, Scott Light, Ardavan Niroomand, Phillip Hustad, Peter Trefonas, Dung Quach, Valeriy Ginzburg

Proceedings Volume 9423, 942304 (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2086693

KEYWORDS: Etching, Semiconducting wafers, Line width roughness, Cadmium, Scanning electron microscopy, Dry etching, Silicon, Line edge roughness, Polymers, Directed self assembly

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SPIE Journal Paper | 7 May 2014

Study of CD variation caused by the black border effect and out-of-band radiation in extreme ultraviolet lithography

Weimin Gao, Ardavan Niroomand, Gian Lorusso, Robert Boone, Kevin Lucas, Wolfgang Demmerle

JM3, Vol. 13, Issue 02, 023005, (May 2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JMM.13.2.023005

KEYWORDS: Critical dimension metrology, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Radiation effects, Etching, Extreme ultraviolet, Photomasks, Reflectivity, Semiconducting wafers, Cadmium, Lithography

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Proceedings Article | 17 April 2014 Paper

Feasibility of compensating for EUV field edge effects through OPC

Chris Maloney, James Word, Germain Fenger, Ardavan Niroomand, Gian Lorusso, Rik Jonckheere, Eric Hendrickx, Bruce Smith

Proceedings Volume 9048, 90480T (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2046203

KEYWORDS: Optical proximity correction, Extreme ultraviolet, Reflectivity, Photomasks, Reticles, Deep ultraviolet, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Neodymium, Etching, Electroluminescent displays

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As EUV Lithography (EUVL) continues to evolve, it offers a possible solution to the problems of additional masks and lithography steps that drive up the cost and complexity of 193i multiple patterning. EUVL requires a non-telecentric reflective optical system for operation. This requirement causes EUV specific effects such as shadowing. The absorber physically shadows the reflective multilayer (ML) on an EUV reticle resulting in pattern fidelity degradation. To reduce this degradation, a thinner absorber may help. Yet, as the absorber thickness decreases, reflectivity increases in the ‘dark’ region around the image field, resulting in a loss of contrast. The region around the edge of the die on the mask of unpatterned absorber material deposited on top of ML, known as the image border, is also susceptible to undesirable reflections in an ideally dark region. For EUVL to be enabled for high-volume manufacturing (HVM), reticle masking (REMA) blades are used to shield light from the image border to allow for the printing of densely spaced die. When die are printed densely, the image border of each neighboring die will overlap with the edge of a given die resulting in an increase of dose that overexposes features at the edge of the field. This effect is convolved with a fingerprint from the edge of the REMA blades. This phenomenon will be referred to as a field edge effect. One such mitigation strategy that has been investigated to reduce the field edge effect is to fully remove the ML along the image border to ensure that no actinic-EUV radiation can be reflected onto neighboring die. This has proven to suppress the effect, but residual out-of-band radiation still provides additional dose to features near the image border, especially in the corners where three neighboring fields overlap. Measurements of dense contact holes (CHs) have been made along the image border with and without a ML-etched border at IMEC in collaboration with Micron using the ASML NXE:3100. The implementation of these measurements allow for further mitigation, i.e., compensation by OPC. Mentor Graphics’ Calibre software uses the scanner’s point spread function and convolves it with the mask layout to generate a flare map. It also has the capability to add additional dose to the image border which can be optimized to fit the experimental data. This includes the transition region between the image field and border that results in a linear rolloff of dose due to partial shadowing of the REMA blades. By applying this flaremap that accounts for neighboring die to the already calibrated optical and resist models, OPC can now be enabled to compensate for field edge effects. This study has two goals. First, we will show that OPC can be used to compensate both for field edge effects with and without a etched ML border. The second is to investigate the limitations that exist for OPC in the areas altered by neighboring die. This will predict when a process to mitigate the field edge effect is needed to enable EUV HVM.

Proceedings Article | 28 March 2014 Paper

A comparison of the pattern transfer of line-space patterns from graphoepitaxial and chemoepitaxial block co-polymer directed self-assembly

Dan Millward, Gurpreet Lugani, Ranjan Khurana, Scott Light, Ardavan Niroomand, Philip Hustad, Peter Trefonas, Shih-wei Chang, Christopher Lee, Dung Quach

Proceedings Volume 9054, 90540M (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2045580

KEYWORDS: Etching, Scanning electron microscopy, Carbon, Semiconducting wafers, Dry etching, Inspection, Cadmium sulfide, Line width roughness, Optical lithography, Directed self assembly

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Proceedings Article | 1 October 2013 Paper

Simulation study of CD variation caused by field edge effects and out-of-band radiation in EUVL

Weimin Gao, Ardavan Niroomand, Gian Lorusso, Robert Boone, Kevin Lucas, Wolfgang Demmerle

Proceedings Volume 8880, 88800H (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2027880

KEYWORDS: Etching, Extreme ultraviolet, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Critical dimension metrology, Photomasks, Radiation effects, Reflectivity, Semiconducting wafers, Cadmium, Ions

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Proceedings Article | 1 April 2013 Paper

Towards manufacturing a 10nm node device with complementary EUV lithography

Jan Hermans, Huixiong Dai, Ardavan Niroomand, David Laidler, Ming Mao, Yongmei Chen, Philippe Leray, Chris Ngai, Shaunee Cheng

Proceedings Volume 8679, 86791K (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2012136

KEYWORDS: Semiconducting wafers, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Etching, Extreme ultraviolet, Reticles, Critical dimension metrology, Optical lithography, Line width roughness, Manufacturing, Overlay metrology

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SPIE Journal Paper | 1 November 2010

Design correction in extreme ultraviolet lithography

Germain Fenger, Gian Lorusso, Eric Hendrickx, Ardavan Niroomand

JM3, Vol. 9, Issue 04, 043001, (November 2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.3496030

KEYWORDS: Data modeling, Calibration, Photomasks, Semiconducting wafers, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Optical proximity correction, Extreme ultraviolet, Critical dimension metrology, Reticles, Modulation

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Proceedings Article | 20 March 2010 Paper

Full chip correction of EUV design

G. Lorusso, E. Hendrickx, G. Fenger, A. Niroomand

Proceedings Volume 7636, 763615 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.846966

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Data modeling, Photomasks, Semiconducting wafers, Optical proximity correction, Extreme ultraviolet, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Electronic design automation, Modulation, Critical dimension metrology

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Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) is currently the most promising technology for advanced manufacturing nodes: it recently demonstrated the feasibility of 32nm and 22nm node devices, and pre-production tools are expected to be delivered by 2010. Generally speaking, EUVL is less in need of Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) as compared to 193nm lithography, and the device feasibility studies were indeed carried out with limited or no correction. However, a rigorous optical correction strategy and an appropriate Electronic Design Automation (EDA) infrastructure is critical to face the challenges of the 22nm node and beyond, and EUV-specific effects such as flare and shadowing have to be fully integrated in the correction flow and properly tested. This study aims to assess in detail the quality of a full chip optical correction for a EUV design, as well to discuss the available approaches to compensate for EUV-specific effects. Extensive data sets have been collected on the ASML EUV Alpha-Demo Tool (ADT) using the latest IMEC baseline resist Shin-Etsu SEVR59. In total about 1300 CD measurements at wafer level and 700 at mask level were used as input for model calibration and validation. The smallest feature size in the data set was 32nm. Both one-dimensional and two-dimensional structures through CD and pitch were measured. The mask used in this calibration exercise allowed the authors to modulate flare by varying tiling densities within the range expected in the final design. The OPC model was fitted and validated against the CD data collected on the EUV ADT. The shadowing effect was modeled by means of a single bias correction throughout the design. Horizontal and vertical features of different type through pitch and CD were used to calibrate the shadowing correction, and the extent of the validity of the single bias approach is discussed. In addition, the quality of the generated full-chip flare maps has been tested against experimental results, and the model has been validated in the full flare range available within the mask. The model calibration yielded an RMS of about 1nm, and a EUV mask fully corrected for OPC, flare and shadowing was finally fabricated and qualified.

Proceedings Article | 4 December 2008 Paper

Full field EUV lithography: lessons learned on EUV ADT imaging, EUV resist, and EUV reticles

E. Hendrickx, A. Goethals, A. Niroomand, R. Jonckheere, F. Van Roey, G. Lorusso, J. Hermans, B. Baudemprez, K. Ronse

Proceedings Volume 7140, 714007 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.805408

KEYWORDS: Extreme ultraviolet, Reticles, Semiconducting wafers, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Photomasks, Line edge roughness, Critical dimension metrology, Lithography, Finite element methods, Printing

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Proceedings Article | 11 May 2007 Paper

Full field EUV lithography turning into a reality at IMEC

Rik Jonckheere, Gian Francesco Lorusso, Anne Marie Goethals, Jan Hermans, Bart Baudemprez, Alan Myers, Insung Kim, Ardavan Niroomand, Fumio Iwamoto, Nickolay Stepanenko, Kurt Ronse

Proceedings Volume 6607, 66070H (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.729259

KEYWORDS: Reticles, Reflectivity, Extreme ultraviolet, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Photomasks, Silicon, Multilayers, Carbon, Contamination, Point spread functions

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Proceedings Article | 13 March 2007 Paper

EUV lithography program at IMEC

Anne Marie Goethals, Rik Jonckheere, Gian Francesco Lorusso, Jan Hermans, Frieda Van Roey, Alan Myers, Manish Chandhok, Insung Kim, Ardavan Niroomand, Fumio Iwamoto, Nikolay Stepanenko, Roel Gronheid, Bart Baudemprez, Kurt Ronse

Proceedings Volume 6517, 651709 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.710798

KEYWORDS: Extreme ultraviolet, Reticles, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Photomasks, Line edge roughness, Point spread functions, Scanners, Lithography, Printing, Critical dimension metrology

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Proceedings Article | 5 July 2000 Paper

Status of ArF lithography for the 130-nm technology node

Kurt Ronse, Geert Vandenberghe, Patrick Jaenen, Christie Delvaux, Diziana Vangoidsenhoven, Frieda Van Roey, Ingrid Pollers, Mireille Maenhoudt, Anne-Marie Goethals, Ivan Pollentier, Bert Vleeming, Koen van Ingen Schenau, Barbra Heskamp, Guy Davies, Jo Finders, Ardavan Niroomand

Proceedings Volume 4000, (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.389029

KEYWORDS: Lithography, 193nm lithography, Photomasks, Manufacturing, Etching, Reticles, Dry etching, Lenses, Oxides, Resolution enhancement technologies

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Showing 5 of 14 publications

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