Synchrotron radiation stepper with new alignment system

Abstract

A vertical stepper for synchrotron radiation (SR) x-ray lithography has been developed. Evaluation tests have been done with SR light from the superconducting compact synchrotron ‘‘AURORA’’ located in SHI-Tanashi Works, Tokyo. An overlay accuracy of less than 0.08 μm was obtained. A 0.2 μm line-and-space pattern was successfully resolved with a high-aspect ratio. The designed specifications have been attained. The system is ready for the future generation ultra-large-scale integration applications.

X-ray lithography for sub-half-micrometer devices.

“…The AURORA has achieved the smallest required footprint to date while operating at low electric power. The X-ray stepper named "SATELLITE" was also newly developed by SHI [10] and installed at the end of one of the beam-lines connected to the AURORA. In order to evaluate the overall performance of the compact X-ray lithography system, we fabricated sub-half-micrometer NMOS transistors, applying the X-ray lithography processes to four mask levels: isolation (LOCOS), gate, contact, and wiring[1fl.…”