Cross-platform (NXE-NXT) machine-to-machine overlay matching supporting next node chip manufacturing

Thijssen, Theo; Beckers, M.; Mollema, Albert; Levasier, Leon; Padi, Alexander; Hung, Chia-Wei; Chen, Hsiao-Lan; Bokhoven, Laurens van; Lammers, N. A.; Damme, Jean Phillippe van; Teeuwisse, Floris; Tijssen, Robin; Tzeng, Wilson; Wang, Cathy; Mastenbroek, Marcel; Vos, H.J. de; Yueh, Ting-Ju; Chen, Miao-Chi; Wu, Hsueh-Hung; Peng, Shin-Rung; Chen, Chun-Kuang; Chen, L. J.; Cheng, Kevin; Lin, John C.

doi:10.1117/12.2297387

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…In general, a 300 mm wafer was used in the EUV process, and the maximum size of a die was 26 × 33 mm 2 . [6][7][8] The overall schematic diagram of the simulation is illustrated in Fig. 1.…”

Section: Modeling Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Current overlay accuracy of the ASML's NXE series scanner is known to be 1.1 nm, and the target CD is continuously decreasing. 7) Therefore, it is necessary to quantitatively analyze the overlay error due to thermal deformation and apply the corresponding correction to the EUV mask design. This study focused on analyzing the thermo-mechanical problems that directly affect the overlay and LCDU.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Overlay and CD uniformity variation due to wafer thermal deformation caused by EUV exposure

Ko¹,

Choi²,

Kim³

et al. 2023

Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.

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Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) process allows for the manufacturing of better- performance chips. However, the EUV exposure process might contribute to significant variations in the patterns of circuits, which cause serious image placement and flatness change. And, during the exposure, the EUV absorption might cause local wafer thermal deformation that might cause the overlay and local critical dimension (CD) variation. In this study, we investigated the wafer thermal deformation with different CDs and pitches with EUV exposure and the thermo-mechanical behavior of the photoresist using the finite element method (FEM) simulation. It is found that the thermal deformation caused during EUV exposure is different inside a die. In the direction along the scan, thermal deformation is increased as it is nearer to the center of the slit. The deformation in the perpendicular direction is increased as it approaches the edges and deforms in the opposite direction relative to the center of the slit. In both directions, the thermal deformation increases gradually as the scan progresses, and it could be as large as ~ 1.5 nm in a die. There was no difference in thermal deformation by CD change, but it is changed with pitch.

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Section: Modeling Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overlay and CD uniformity variation due to wafer thermal deformation caused by EUV exposure

Ko¹,

Choi²,

Kim³

et al. 2023

Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.

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show abstract

“…Consequently, the increase of lens reduction from 4× to 8× on high-NA EUV exposure tools means that the mask must scan during exposures at twice the speed of masks on 0.33 NA systems in order to achieve the same wafer scan speed. Wafer scan speeds on EUV exposure tools are currently limited by exposure source power, so they are typically less than the ⩾ 800 mm s −1 achieved on optical exposure tools, 17) but mask scan speeds of multiple meters per second are still required. This must be achieved while meeting the subnanometer position control required for good overlay and imaging.…”

Section: The Key Characteristics Of High-na Euv Lithographymentioning

confidence: 99%

High-NA EUV lithography: current status and outlook for the future

Levinson¹

2022

Jpn. J. Appl. Phys.

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High-NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is currently in development. Fabrication of exposure tools and optics with a numerical aperture (NA) equal to 0.55 has started at ASML and Carl Zeiss. Lenses with such high NA will have very small depths-of-focus, which will require improved focus systems and significant improvements in wafer flatness during processing. Lenses are anamorphic to address mask 3D issues, which results in wafer field sizes of 26 mm × 16.5 mm, half that of lower NA EUV tools and optical scanners. Production of large die will require stitching. Computational infrastructure is being created to support high-NA lithography, including simulators that use Tatian polynomials to characterize the aberrations of lenses with central obscurations. High resolution resists that meet the line-edge roughness (LER) and defect requirements for high-volume manufacturing (HVM) also need to be developed. High power light sources will also be needed to limit photon shot noise.

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“…The most recent low-NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV) scanners accomplish a matched machine overlay (MMO) of 1.1 nm, and the high-NA EUV scanner aims to meet a specification of 0.8 nm. [1][2] These highly constrained overlay error budgets necessitate the consideration of sub-nano-level thermal deformation induced by EUV exposure. To date, process have been accomplished by mitigating in-plane distortion (IPD) and out-of-plane distortion (OPD) through the regulation of wafer stage cooling and the utilization of a chuck for wafer flatness control.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal deformation variations with field positions on the wafer and resist types (CAR and MOR)

Ko,

Kim,

Kang

et al. 2023

International Conference on Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography 2023

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Cross-platform (NXE-NXT) machine-to-machine overlay matching supporting next node chip manufacturing

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Overlay and CD uniformity variation due to wafer thermal deformation caused by EUV exposure

Overlay and CD uniformity variation due to wafer thermal deformation caused by EUV exposure

High-NA EUV lithography: current status and outlook for the future

Thermal deformation variations with field positions on the wafer and resist types (CAR and MOR)

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