Calibration of a MOx-specific EUV photoresist lithography model

Needham, Craig D.; Narasimhan, Amrit; Welling, Ulrich; Melvin, Lawrence S.; Schepper, Peter De; Wouters, J; Severi, Joren; Simone, Danilo De; Meyers, Stephen T.

doi:10.1117/12.2552151

Cited by 8 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…One could imagine comparing an ideal scanner with polarizer using a fast (low dose) resist with a scanner without polarizer using a slow (high dose) resist. We compare photon shot noise in this very simplified model by looking at the variability given by a stochastic aerial image model [22][23] . The dose-to-clear (E0) is the dose to remove the photoresist film completely in the developing process, which is used as a measure of photoresist sensitivity.…”

Section: The Balance Between Contrast and Throughput For Printing Den...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hyper-NA EUV lithography: an imaging perspective

Lee¹,

Franke

Philipsen³

et al. 2023

Optical and EUV Nanolithography XXXVI

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To print ever smaller features at high contrast projection lithography technology has evolved to shorter wavelength light and larger NA. After enabling the EUV wavelength, the industry is looking into increasing the NA. This study aims to identify EUV specific challenges regarding NA scaling beyond 0.55. We study if EUV imaging can still work at this higher NA and whether specific changes to the mask stack are required. At NA's much higher than 0.55, new effects like polarization will play a role, and larger impact of ultimate mask resolution and material interactions is expected. Already at NA 0.55, a small contrast loss is predicted due to the use of unpolarized light in the scanner. Further increasing the NA will enhance the contrast loss. We study these polarization effects in detail and assess their impact quantitatively for a set of generic building blocks. In addition, the larger incidence angles on mask when the NA increases above 0.55, will further enhance the M3D effects forcing additional mask changes. To enable proper imaging at high incidence angles, new mask architectures, that include changes in the EUV mask absorber and multilayer, will have to be tested using rigorous simulations.

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Section: The Balance Between Contrast and Throughput For Printing Den...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hyper-NA EUV lithography: an imaging perspective

Lee¹,

Franke

Philipsen³

et al. 2023

Optical and EUV Nanolithography XXXVI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The next reaction's time step is computed separately for each core from its total reaction rate based on Eq. (11). The computed update time is multiplied by the Poisson generated number of reactions, to account for the number of reactions generated based on Poisson probability.…”

Section: Computational Optimization Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6 Previously, several modeling approaches and investigations of organometallic photoresists have been reported. [6][7][8][9][10][11] The presented models provide a good understanding of the organometallic photoresist behavior during exposure. In this paper, a modeling procedure to characterize and quantify the development process is presented together with a calibration of the model with experimental data to contribute further to understanding of the photoresists' response to different processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stochastic simulation and calibration of organometallic photoresists for extreme ultraviolet lithography

Belete

Bisschop

Welling

et al. 2021

J. Micro/Nanopattern. Mats. Metro.

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Organometallic photoresists are being pursued as an alternative photoresist material to push the current extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) to the next generation of high-NA EUVL. In order to improve the photoresist performance, an understanding of the photoresist's response to different process conditions is required. In this endeavor, a stochastic development model is implemented, integrated into full photoresist process steps, and applied for photoresist performance investigations. The model is applied to Inpria-YA photoresist, which works mainly by the process of aggregation. Previously published modeling approaches for metal-organic photoresists assume that the development characteristics of these materials depend only on the size of the created oxo-clusters. In contrast to that, we propose a modeling approach that provides a more detailed description of the interaction among the developer, ligands, and oxo-bonds. Further, the calibration procedures conducted to extract the model parameters to match experimental data are discussed. The model approximated the experimental data with CD RMSE and LWR RMSE of 0.60 and 0.40 nm, respectively. We also investigated the impact of photoresist parameters on the process metrics, line width roughness (LWR), critical dimension (CD), doseto-size (DtS), and exposure latitude (EL) with the calibrated model. The investigation shows that details of the interaction of photoresist and developer, especially, the so-called development critical value, have a significant impact on the LWR and DtS. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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“…Various groups have developed methods for simulating the pattern formation process. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The stochastic nature of the patterning process is included at various levels of approximation, and includes in general the randomness of the locations of photon absorption. The stochasticity of the subsequent processes, leading via electron-hole pair formation to a cascade of secondary electrons that lead to damage in a certain region around the point of absorption, is included at various level of approximation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards molecular-scale kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of pattern formation in photoresist materials for EUV nanolithography

Miguez

Bobbert

Coehoorn

2023

Advances in Patterning Materials and Processes XL

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Modelling the pattern formation process in photoresist materials for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography in a stochastic and mechanistic manner, with molecular-scale resolution, should enable predicting the effect of variations of material parameters and process conditions, leading to insights into the ultimate resolution limits. In this work, we present the results of the first steps toward that goal. We describe the physics of the development with time of cascades of electrons and holes, created by the stochastic absorption of 92 eV photons, using a kinetic Monte Carlo model with molecular resolution. The thin film material is modelled assuming a cubic array of lattice sites, at a distance that is consistent with the molecular density of the photoresist material that is considered. The simulation of the cascading process is based on the experimental optical energy loss function, extended to include also excitations with momentum transfer. The method allows for including the Coulomb interactions between charges. In contrast to earlier work, within which the high-energy electrons move ballistically until scattering takes place, the trajectories are in our model formed by stochastically determined interconnected molecular sites. In future extensions of the model, this approach will facilitate including in a natural way a transition from delocalized electron transport at high energies to hopping transport of localized electrons at low energies. The simulations are used to study the sensitivity of the average number of degradations per absorbed photon and the average electron blur length on the rates of elastic scattering and of molecular degradation, and on the energy that is lost upon a molecular degradation process.

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Calibration of a MOx-specific EUV photoresist lithography model

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Hyper-NA EUV lithography: an imaging perspective

Hyper-NA EUV lithography: an imaging perspective

Stochastic simulation and calibration of organometallic photoresists for extreme ultraviolet lithography

Towards molecular-scale kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of pattern formation in photoresist materials for EUV nanolithography

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