Due to the promising development status of EUVL as a practical lithography technology for the 2x-nm node, we are
continuing to evaluate its process liability using the EUV1 at Selete, which has an Off-Axis illumination capability. The
resolution limit of the EUV1 for L&S patterns is currently 18 nm for dipole illumination, and 16 nm for aggressive
dipole illumination. This study examined the critical points of EUVL for device manufacturing through wafer processes.
The yield obtained from electrical measurements indicates the maturity of the technology, including the resist process,
the tool, and the mask. Optimization of the resist and RIE processes significantly improved the yield. The final yields
obtained from electrical measurements were 100% for hp 30 nm, 70% for hp 28 nm, and 40% for hp 26 nm. These
results demonstrate EUV lithography to be a practical technology that is now suitable for 2x nm semiconductor
manufacture.
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is a promising candidate for 2x-nm-node device manufacturing. Management of effective dose is important to meet the stringent requirements for critical dimension control. As a test pattern for a lithography tool evaluation, the effective dose monitor (EDM) demonstrates sound performance in dose monitoring for optical lithography, such as KrF lithography. The EDM can measure an exposure dose with no influence on defocus, because the image of an EDM pattern is produced by the zeroth-order ray in diffraction only. When this technique is applied to EUV lithography, the mask shadowing effect should be taken into consideration. We calculated the shadowing effect as a function of field position and applied it to correction of the experimental dose variation. We estimated the dose variation in EUV exposure field to be 2.55% when corrected by the shadowing effect. We showed that the EDM is useful for EUV lithography.
EUV lithography is a promising candidate for 2x-nm-node device manufacturing. Management of effective dose is
important to meet the stringent requirements for CD control. Test pattern for a lithography tool evaluation, the effective
dose monitor (EDM), shows good performance in the dose monitoring for optical lithography, for example, KrF
lithography. The EDM can measure an exposure dose with no influence on defocus, because the image of an EDM
pattern is produced by the zero-th-order ray in diffraction only. When this technique is applied to EUV lithography, the
mask shadowing effect should be taken into consideration. We calculated the shadowing effect as a function of field
position and applied it to correction of the experimental dose variation. We estimated the dose variation in EUV
exposure field to be 2.55 % when corrected by the shadowing effect. We showed that the EDM is useful for EUV
lithography.
The actual extreme ultraviolet lithography tools will have aberrations around seven times larger than those of the latest ArF lithography tools in wavelength normalized rms. We calculated the influence of aberrations on the size error and pattern shift error using Zernike sensitivity analysis. Mask-induced aberration restricts the specification of aberration. Without periodic additional pattern, the aberration level that can be accepted to form 22 nm dual-gate patterns was <8 m rms. Arranging the periodic additional pattern relaxed the aberration tolerance. With periodic additional pattern, the acceptable aberration level to form 22 nm patterns was below <37 m rms. It is important to make pattern periodicity for the relaxation of the aberration specification.
Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) is the most promising candidate for the manufacture of devices with a half pitch
of 32 nm and beyond. We are now evaluating the process liability of EUVL in view of the current status of lithography
technology development. In a previous study, we demonstrated the feasibility of manufacturing 32-nm-node devices by
means of a wafer process that employed the EUV1, a full-field step-and-scan exposure tool. To evaluate yield, a test
pattern was drawn on a multilayer resist and exposed. After development, the pattern was replicated in SiO2 film by
etching, and metal wires were formed by a damascene process. Resolution enhancement is needed to advance to the 22-
nm node and beyond, and a practical solution is off-axis illumination (OAI). This paper presents the results of a study on
yield improvement that used a 32-nm-node test chip, and also clarifies a critical issue in the use of EUVL in a wafer
process for device manufacture at the 22-nm node and beyond.
This work concerns the readiness of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) for high-volume manufacturing based on accelerated development in critical areas, and the construction of a process liability (PL) test site that integrates results in these areas. Overall lithography performance is determined from the performance of the exposure tool, the printability obtainable with the resist, mask fabrication with accurate critical dimension (CD) control, and correction technology for mask data preparation. The EUV1 exposure tool can carry out exposure over the full field (26 × 33 mm) at a resolution high enough for 32-nm line-and-space patterns when Selete Standard Resist 3 (SSR3) is used. The effect of flare on CD variation is a critical issue in EUVL, so flare is compensated for based on the point spread function for the projection optics of the EUV1 and aerial simulations that take resist blur into account. Production readiness of EUVL based on the integration of results in these areas is evaluated by electrical tests on low-resistance tungsten wiring. We find the PL test site to be very useful for determining where further improvements need to be made and for evaluating the production readiness of EUVL.
We estimated aberrations using Zernike sensitivity analysis. We found the difference of the tolerated aberration with line
direction for illumination. The tolerated aberration of perpendicular line for illumination is much smaller than that of
parallel line. We consider this difference to be attributable to the mask 3D effect. We call it mask-induced aberration. In
the case of the perpendicular line for illumination, there was a difference in CD between right line and left line without
aberration. In this report, we discuss the possibility of pattern formation in NA 0.25 generation EUV lithography tool. In
perpendicular pattern for EUV light, the dominant part of aberration is mask-induced aberration. In EUV lithography,
pattern correction based on the mask topography effect will be more important.
This paper concerns the readiness of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) for high-volume manufacture based on
accelerated development in critical areas and the construction of a process liability (PL) test site that integrates results in
these areas. The overall lithography performance was determined from the performance of the exposure tool, the
printability obtainable with the resist, mask fabrication with accurate critical dimension (CD) control, and correction
technology for mask data preparation. The EUV1 exposure tool can carry out exposure over the full field (26 mm × 33
mm) at a resolution high enough for 32-nm line-and-space patterns when Selete Standard Resist 3 (SSR3) is used. Thus,
the test site was designed for the full-field exposure of various pattern sizes [half-pitch (hp) 32-50 nm]. The CD variation
of the mask was found to be as good as 2.8 nm (3σ); and only one printable defect was detected. The effect of flare on
CD variation is a critical issue in EUVL; so flare was compensated for based on the point spread function for the
projection optics of the EUV1 and aerial simulations that took resist blur into account. The accuracy obtained when an
electronic design automation (EDA) tool was used for mask resizing was found to be very good (error ≤ ±2 nm). Metal
wiring patterns with a size of hp 32 nm were successfully formed by wafer processing. The production readiness of
EUVL based on the integration of results in these areas was evaluated by electrical tests on low-resistance tungsten
wiring. The yield for the electrically open test for hp 50 nm (32-nm logic node) and hp 40 nm (22-nm logic node) were
found to be over 60% and around 50%, respectively; and the yield tended to decrease as patterns became smaller. We
found the PL test site to be very useful for determining where further improvements need to be made and for evaluating
the production readiness of EUVL.
It seems that the actual EUV lithography tools will have aberrations around ten times larger than those of the
latest ArF lithography tools in wavelength normalized rms. We calculated the influence of aberrations on the size error
and pattern shift error using Zernike sensitivity analysis. Mask-induced aberration restricts the specification of aberration.
Without periodic additional pattern, the aberration to form 22 nm dual-gate patterns was below 8 mλ rms. Arranging the
periodic additional pattern relaxed the aberration tolerance. With periodic additional pattern, the aberration to form 22
nm patterns was below 37 mλ rms. It is important to make pattern periodicity for the relaxation of the aberration
specification.
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