Development of attenuating PSM shifter for F 2 and high-transmission ArF lithography

Nozawa, Osamu; Shiota, Yuki; Mitsui, Hideaki; Suzuki, Toshiyuki; Ohkubo, Yasushi; Ushida, Masao; Yusa, Satoshi; Nishimura, Tatsuo; Noguchi, Kenji; Sasaki, Shiho; Mohri, Hiroshi; Hayashi, Naoya

doi:10.1117/12.504047

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Some typical types of RET masks are the alternatingaperture phase-shift mask, embedded attenuated phase-shift mask, and chromeless phase lithography mask. 54,55) A Levenson phase shift-mask is structured by applying both plasma anisotropic etching (RIE) and sequential wet etching of the quartz plate. In this structure, side-etched quantities are approximately 120 -150 nm for a light of wavelength 248 nm and 80 -100 nm for a light of wavelength 193 nm.…”

Section: Plasma Etching and Ashing Of Photomaskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developments of Plasma Etching Technology for Fabricating Semiconductor Devices

Abe¹,

Yoneda

Fujiwara

2008

jjap

268

163

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Plasma etching technologies such as reactive ion etching (RIE), isotropic etching, and ashing/plasma cleaning are the currently used booster technologies for manufacturing all silicon devices based on the scaling law. The needs-driven conversion from the wet etching process to the plasma/dry etching process is reviewed. The progress made in plasma etching technologies is described from the viewpoint of requirements for the manufacturing of devices. The critical applications of RIE, isotropic etching, and plasma ashing/cleaning to form precisely controlled profiles of high-aspect-ratio contacts (HARC), gate stacks, and shallow trench isolation (STI) in the front end of line (FEOL), and also to form precise via holes and trenches used in reliable Cu/low-k (low-dielectric-constant material) interconnects in the back end of line (BEOL) are described in detail. Some critical issues inherent to RIE processing, such as the RIE-lag effect, the notch phenomenon, and plasma-induced damage including charge-up damage are described. The basic reaction mechanisms of RIE and isotropic etching are discussed. Also, a procedure for designing the etching process, which is strongly dependent on the plasma reactor configuration, is proposed. For the more precise critical dimension (CD) control of the gate pattern for leading-edge devices, the advanced process control (APC) system is shown to be effective.

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Section: Plasma Etching and Ashing Of Photomaskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developments of Plasma Etching Technology for Fabricating Semiconductor Devices

Abe¹,

Yoneda

Fujiwara

2008

jjap

268

163

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“…This is a known mask stack for mask makers to create high transmission att.PSM and nowadays mask makers have developed a controllable quartz etching to achieve a pi-phase shift through various mask pattern densities [2,8].…”

Section: T a T Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The advantage of a bi-layer att.PSM is the possibility to independently tune the transmission and the phase by adjusting the absorber thickness and transparent layer thickness respectively. The absorber layer (the Ta-layer in this case) lies directly on the Qz substrate and as such provides a reliable etch stop layer for patterning the phase shift layer [1,2]. Our previous work [3] illustrated that the thickness-optimized Ta-bi-layers exhibit experimentally up to 30% more exposure latitude than the standard stacks (Cr binary mask and MoSi 6% att.PSM) for the 45nm half-pitch lines/spaces (L/S).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Mask transmission resonance in bi-layer masks

2008

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We report on the experimental observation of mask transmission resonances in line/space gratings on bi-layer mask stacks and on the validation by mask 3D lithographic simulations. The mask transmission resonances manifest themselves as a local enhancement in the dose-to-size curve through mask line width for a given pitch targeted to a fixed wafer CD. We observed this resonance in gratings on a bi-layer Ta/SiON 1% attenuated phase shift mask (att.PSM). We relate the finding to a local transmission loss of the propagating diffraction orders in this range of mask line widths. This resonanttype anomaly has a large impact on the imaging performance of the mask stack. The through-mask-line-width behavior of the mask error enhancement factor (MEEF) shows strong variations and even negative MEEF values around the position of this resonance, which stem from the local dose-to-size enhancement. More precisely, the behavior of the MEEF can be well predicted by the differential of the dose-to-size curve. In this study we investigate both by experiments and simulations the dependency of this mask transmission resonance on various lithographic conditions such as incidence angle and polarization state of the incoming light, grating pitch, and mask material. Based on our findings we provide an explanation of the underlying optical mechanism.

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“…The material's characteristic is the bilayer structure 1 . Figure 1 shows the stacking structure of the shifter, which consists of a shifter layer and a transmittance control layer (TCL).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photomask repair performance of the SiON/Ta-Hf attenuating PSM

et al. 2003

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Recently, a new attenuating phase shift film utilizing a bilayer of SiON film and TaHf alloy film was developed for F 2 and high transmission ArF lithography. Basic data, showing their optical properties, chemical durability, and dry-etch performance was introduced during the Photomask Japan 2003. Currently a lot of lithographers are paying their attention on this new material, because of its capability for high transmission ArF, as one of the solution for 65nm node with 193nm extension.As it is becoming more and more recognized by both mask manufacturers and mask users, repair capability of the film material has a great impact on the mask yield, which determines the potential cost and cycle time of the photomask. In this paper, we investigated the capability of this material on critical mask repair, focusing on high transmission and attenuating ternary PSM.We evaluated the repair capability with currently used FIB tools. This new material shows excellent repair capability because of the bilayer structure, where the Ta-Hf film, which was initially designed as a transmission control layer and as an etch stop for the SiON etch, works as a stopper during the FIB repair process assisted by β gas. We also report preliminary test results with the nanomachining repair system RAVE.

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Development of attenuating PSM shifter for F 2 and high-transmission ArF lithography

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Developments of Plasma Etching Technology for Fabricating Semiconductor Devices

Developments of Plasma Etching Technology for Fabricating Semiconductor Devices

Mask transmission resonance in bi-layer masks

Photomask repair performance of the SiON/Ta-Hf attenuating PSM

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