Since the introduction of EUV, ASML and its industry partners have continuously improved the reticle defectivity levels in the volume manufacturing flows. In this paper we will show the progress over the years in reticle defectivity performance and what was done to achieve this. Next, an outlook of the defectivity improvements of the next product, NXE:3800 will be given. Finally, on the longer term, it will be shown how defectivity mitigation will be developed in the future platforms. In detail, these future developments extend the defect mitigations from the current cleanliness and flow optimizations further into the electrostatic realm. An overview will be given of the improvements planned in the EUV scanner, and the necessary changes needed on the EUV reticle infrastructure to fully benefit from these improvements. With all changes implemented it will be shown that electrostatic particle control can achieve a reticle defectivity reduction by more than 50%.
With the introduction of the NXE:3400 scanner, EUV has progressed to High-Volume Manufacturing (HVM) for sub-10nm lithography. In this context, manufacturers are pursuing a dual-path approach towards near-zero reticle defectivity: EUV-compatible pellicle or zero particles towards reticle by advanced particle contamination control. However, given the high cost of reticles, it is equally important to establish tooling and processes for cleaning the reticle should a particle land on it.
To this end, we investigated an extension of the existing MeRiT mask repair product line to also address particle defects. The resulting tool for particle removal leverages the MeRiT know-how on defect repair using e-beam based repair schemes with a novel in-situ manipulator to remove particles, including real-time observation by SEM (scanning electrode microscopy).
This paper will focus primarily on a feasibility study, successfully demonstrating proof of principle of defect removal, reviewing the area of interest by SEM and showing no collateral damage being observed by SEM-EDX (Energy Dispersive X-ray) analysis.
In the past year, EUV lithography scanner systems have entered High-Volume Manufacturing for state-of-the-art Integrated Circuits (IC), with critical dimensions down to 10 nm. This technology uses 13.5 nm EUV radiation, which is shaped and transmitted through a near-vacuum H2 background gas. This gas is excited into a low-density H2 plasma by the energetic EUV and DUV radiation from the Laser-Produced Plasma (LPP) in the EUV Source. In the vicinity of the walls and mirrors within the scanner system, this creates an environment rather similar to that near the surfaces of objects in space, especially when considered in combination with trace species such as N2, O2, H2O and hydrocarbons. This paper will discuss how insights on electrostatics and charging from astrophysics have been used to build understanding of particulate and molecular contamination, and how these were translated into prevention and control schemes to achieve near-zero contamination levels on critical imaging surfaces, compatible with the stringent manufacturing requirements for 10 nm lithography.
With the introduction of the NXE:3400B scanner, ASML has brought EUV to High-Volume Manufacturing (HVM). In this context, ASML is pursuing a dual-path approach towards zero reticle defectivity: EUV-compatible pellicle or zero particles towards reticle by advanced particle contamination control. This paper will focus on the latter approach of advanced particle contamination control and will show that we are able to reduce particle contamination towards reticle to a level that is compatible with HVM requirements for sub-10nm node lithography.
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