Actinic metrology platform for defect review and mask qualification: flexibility and performance

Multilayer defect compensation based on three dimensional absorber correction in EUV lithography

“…Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography has become one of the main photolithography techniques and been introduced into high volume manufacturing (HVM) for 7nm and 5nm logic technology node chip manufacturing [1] [2]. In EUV lithography, the mask acts as an optical component and has a large potential impact on the aerial image [3]. Multilayer defects of EUV lithography mask may cause severe reflectivity deformation and phase shift in advanced nodes, resulting in local intensity loss of the print image and asymmetric through-focus printing [4] [5].…”

Aerial image metrology (AIMS) based mask-model accuracy improvement for computational lithography

“…Aerial image metrology using the AIMS® platform has been a well-established mask defect review technique [15]. Recent tools such as the AIMS® EUV 0.33NA tool are standalone tools in which the mask is illuminated under the same conditions (pupil distribution, illumination chief-ray angle and spectrum) and a magnified image (>800x) is projected onto a CCD sensor [16,17]. The image distribution at the sensor chip is an accurate representation of the image in the scanner [18].…”

Illumination control in lensless imaging for EUV mask inspection and review

“…As technological progress in the infrastructure for EUV lithography moves towards future technology nodes, the feature sizes present on photomask and wafers keep shrinking and the requirements for EUV metrology become more demanding. Even if commercial solutions for actinic pattern mask inspection (APMI) and EUV mask review are available, 1,2 their cost of ownership remains relatively high and more development will likely be needed for future technology nodes.…”