The successful implementation of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) requires the use of an electrostatic chuck to both support and flatten the mask during scanning exposure. The EUVL Mask Standard, SEMI P37, specifies the nonflatness of the mask frontside and backside, as well as the thickness variation, to be 30 to 100 nm peak-to-valley, dependent on the class of substrate. Thus, characterizing and predicting the capability of the electrostatic chuck to reduce mask nonflatness to meet these specifications are critical issues. In this research, the ability of such chucks to deal with the presence of particles trapped between the substrate and chuck is investigated. Analytical and finite element modeling are used to identify the forces needed to fully embed or deform a particle during electrostatic chucking. Simulation results (using an elastic analysis) show that the forces generated by both Coulomb and Johnsen-Rahbek chucks should be able to sufficiently deform, or flatten, particles that are nearly 1.0 µm in size.
The successful implementation of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) requires the use of an electrostatic chuck to
both support and flatten the mask during scanning exposure. The EUVL Mask Standard, SEMI P37, specifies the
nonflatness of the mask frontside and backside, as well as the thickness variation, to be 30 nm to 100 nm peak-to-valley,
dependent on the class of substrate. Thus, characterizing and predicting the capability of the electrostatic chuck to
reduce mask nonflatness to meet these specifications are critical issues. In this research, the ability of such chucks to
deal with the presence of particles trapped between the substrate and chuck is investigated. Analytical and finite
element modeling have been used to identify the forces needed to fully embed or deform a particle during electrostatic
chucking. Simulation results (using an elastic analysis) have shown that the forces generated by both Coulomb and
Johnsen-Rahbek chucks should be able to sufficiently deform, or flatten, particles which are nearly 1.0 μm in size.
Among the potential sources of image placement (IP) error for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) is the
deformation of the mask during electrostatic chucking. This paper focuses on the in-plane and out-of-plane distortion of
the EUVL reticle due to the entrapment of particles. Localized finite element (FE) models have been developed to
simulate the micro response of the reticle / particle / chuck system. To identify the macro response, global FE models
have been generated to simulate the system under typical chucking conditions. Parametric studies were performed to
illustrate the effect of particle size on the final IP accuracy.
Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) is one of the leading candidates for Next-Generation Lithography in the sub-45-nm regime. One of the key components in the development of EUVL is understanding and characterizing the response of the mask when it is electrostatically chucked in the exposure tool. In this study, finite element (FE) models have been developed to simulate the reticle / chuck system under typical exposure conditions. FE simulations are used to illustrate (a) the effects of the nonflatness of the reticle and chuck, (b) the image placement errors induced by back-side particulates, (c) the influence of the coefficient of friction between the reticle and chuck during exposure scanning, and (d) the effects of contact conductance on the thermomechanical response of the reticle. The focus of this paper is to illustrate that mechanical modeling and simulation has now become a fundamental tool in the design of electrostatic pin chucks for the EUVL technology.
The mechanical distortion of an EUVL mask from mounting in an exposure tool can be a significant source of wafer-level image placement error. In particular, the presence of debris lodged between the reticle and chuck can cause the mask to experience out-of-plane distortion and in-plane distortion. A thorough understanding of the response of the reticle/particle/chuck system during electrostatic chucking is necessary to predict the resulting effects of such particle contamination on image placement accuracy. In this research, finite element modeling is employed to simulate this response for typical clamping conditions.
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