Low-defect reflective mask blanks for extreme ultraviolet lithography
Extreme Ultraviolet Lithgraphy (EUVL) is an emerging technology for fabrication of sub-100 nm feature sizes on silicon, following the SIA roadmap well into the 21st century. The specific EUVL system described is a scanned, projection lithography system with a 4:1 reduction, using a laser plasma EUV source. The mask and all of the system optics are reflective, multilayer mirrors which function in the extreme ultraviolet at 13.4 nm wavelength. Since the masks are imaged to the wafer exposure plane, mask defects greater than 80% of the exposure plane CD (for 4:1 reduction) will in many cases render the mask useless, whereas intervening optics can have defects which are not a printing problem. For the 100 nm node, we must reduce defects to less than 0.01/cm² @ 80nm or larger to obtain acceptable mask production yields. We have succeeded in reducing the defects to less than 0.1/cm² for defects larger than 130 nm detected by visible light inspection tools, however our program goal is to achieve 0.01/cm² in the near future. More importantly though, we plan to have a detailed understanding of defect origination and the effect on multilayer growth in order to mitigate defects below the 10-2/cm² level on the next generation of mask blank deposition systems. In this paper we will discuss issues and results from the ion-beam multilayer deposition tool, details of the defect detection and characterization facility, and progress on defect printability modeling.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Defense Programs (DP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-Eng-48
- OSTI ID:
- 9623
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC-133645; ON: DE00009623
- Resource Relation:
- Journal Volume: 3676; Conference: 24th Annual International Symposium on Microlithography, Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, Santa Clara, CA, March 14-19, 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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