The optical train is a key element of each lithography scanner. The single patterning resolution limit of a scanner is determined by the characteristics and performance of its imaging system consisting of illumination and projection optics. The most relevant performance parameters of the illumination system are the maximum achievable setting flexibility, off-axis imaging capability (sigma) and pupil fill ratio (PFR). The key drivers of the projection optics are numerical aperture (NA), aberration level, and stray light.
In this paper, we present an overview of the current EUVL generation and the optical system, designed to improve resolution limit, contrast and overlay performance within the scanner. The projection optics features a NA of 0.33 with significantly reduced aberration levels. These key scanner parameters have been substantially reduced to improve overlay and image contrast supporting volume production.
While double patterning is a possible extension with the current generation of EUVL tools, there is still a strong desire to print smaller chip patterns directly. Therefore a next generation of EUV called “High-NA EUV” is already in preparation. This tool generation with an optical system -ZEISS Starlith®5000- will have a NA of 0.55 and a resolution of 8nm for direct printing of these finest features. Achieving 8nm resolution means tighter specifications for the wavefront. Therefore, extreme aspheres with improved accuracy of the mirror surface are needed that pose next to the large size of the mirrors and the anamorphic design another challenge to the optics manufacturing. To build these systems a completely new production infrastructure is needed which is under installation in parallel with the product design and technology development. In this paper the current progress of the development will be shown.
EUV mask infrastructure is of key importance for the introduction of the 13.5nm extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelength
into volume production. In particular, the manufacturing of defect free masks is essential and requires a printability
analysis ("review") of potential defect sites. For this purpose, Carl Zeiss and the SEMATECH EUVL Mask
Infrastructure consortium have performed a concept and feasibility study for an actinic aerial image metrology system
(AIMS™). In this paper, we discuss the main results of this study. We explain the system concept, discuss the expected
performance and show simulations of the capability to find minimum sized defects. We demonstrate that our EUV AIMS
concept is technically feasible and supports the defect review requirements for the 22nm and 16nm half-pitch (hp) node.
On the road to and beyond the 22nm half-pitch on chip patterning technology, 13.5nm EUVL is widely considered the
best next technology generation following deep ultraviolet lithography. The availability of an actinic measurement
system for the printability analysis of mask defects to ensure defect-free mask manufacturing and cost-effective high-volume
EUV production is an infrastructural prerequisite for the EUVL roadmap and represents a significant step toward
readiness for commercialization of EUV for high-volume-manufacturing .
Carl Zeiss and SEMATECH's EUVL Mask Infrastructure (EMI) program started a concept study and feasibility plan for
a tool that emulates the aerial image formed by a EUV lithography scanner supporting the 22 nm half-pitch node
requirements with extendibility to the 16nm half-pitch node. The study is targeting a feasible concept for the AIMSTM EUV platform, bridging a significant gap for EUV mask metrology.
Management of mask defects is a major challenge for the introduction of EUV for HVM production. Once a defect has
been detected, its printing impact needs to be predicted. Potentially the defect requires some repair, the success of which
needs to be proven. This defect review has to be done with an actinic inspection system that matches the imaging
conditions of an EUV scanner. During recent years, several concepts for such an aerial image metrology system
(AIMS™) have been proposed. However, until now no commercial solution exists for EUV. Today, advances in EUV
optics technology allow envisioning a solution that has been discarded before as unrealistic. We present this concept and
its technical cornerstones.While the power requirement for the EUV source is less demanding than for HVM lithography
tools, radiance, floor space, and stability are the main criteria for source selection. The requirement to emulate several
generations of EUV scanners demands a large flexibility for the ilumination and imaging systems. New critical
specifications to the EUV mirrors in the projection microscope can be satisfied using our expertise from lithographic
mirrors. In summary, an EUV AIMS™ meeting production requirements seems to be feasible.
Projection lenses for high resolution lithography have high NA and work at small wavelengths. In the wavelength regime of VUV (e.g. 193nm), there is a very limited number of optical glasses available, namely fused silica and calcium fluoride. The latter is very expensive and used only sparely, leading to limited possibilities for chromatic correction. In addition to catadioptric approaches, another way to deal with chromatic aberrations is the use of diffractive optical elements (DOEs). They have negative dispersion coupled with positive power and they do not contribute to the Petzval sum. Moreover, it is easy to integrate an aspherical functionality into the structure of the DOE. Usually a DOE is placed close to the aperture stop to correct axial color. The stop of a lithographic projection lens often is located at the largest diameter, causing some serious fabrication difficulties for the DOE. For this reason a class of lenses with intermediate image is of interest. Here, the accessible conjugate of the aperture stop enhances the possibilities to arrange the stop and the DOE. This allows a convenient tradeoff between fabrication challenges and aberration correcting properties. We present different lens designs that take advantage of the named properties of DOEs at high numerical aperture.
To enable optical lithography for sub 55 nm features, ArF immersion lithography requires numerical apertures to be significantly larger than 1 - thus leading to new challenges for optical design. Refractive lens designs are not capable to capture these extreme etendues. Catadioptric lens designs can overcome these fundamental issues by keeping the diameters of the optical materials acceptable. We have studied various catadioptric design approaches. The main criteria used to evaluate the potential of the different solutions include mechanical complexity, reticle compatibility, optical sensitivities, polarization capabilities, image field shape, as well as enabling extendibility to even higher NAs. Our assessment leads us to a new design type called catadioptric in-line design which shows superior performance for high NA systems with NA > 1.1.
Recently, the development of high NA lenses for immersion lithography turned from dioptric concepts to catadioptric design forms. The introduction of mirrors involves the new challenge to deal with the inevitable obscuration of either field or pupil. We review the strategies used in this regard for microlithography, while focussing on the two most favored ones, folded and inline concepts. Although the vignetting situation is more complicated for inline systems, we report progress in this field of optical design yielding similar system performance for inline and folded designs. Since inline optical systems are much easier to realize, these are the concept of choice.
Projection lenses for high resolution lithography have high NA and work at small wavelengths. In the wavelength regime of VUV (e.g. 193nm), there is a very limited number of optical glasses available, namely fused silica and calcium fluoride. The latter is very expensive and used only sparely, leading to limited possibilities for chromatic correction. In addition to catadioptric approaches, another way to deal with chromatic aberrations is the use of diffractive optical elements (DOEs). They have negative dispersion coupled with positive power and they do not contribute to the Petzval sum. Moreover, it is easy to integrate an aspherical functionality into the structure of the DOE. Usually a DOE is placed close to the aperture stop to correct axial color. The stop of a lithographic projection lens often is located at the largest diameter, causing some serious fabrication difficulties for the DOE. For this reason a class of lenses with intermediate image is of interest. Here, the accessible conjugate of the aperture stop enhances the possibilities to arrange the stop and the DOE. This allows a convenient tradeoff between fabrication challenges and aberration correcting properties. We present different lens designs that take advantage of the named properties of DOEs at high numerical aperture.
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