Laser bandwidth and other sources of focus blur in lithography

T. Brunner; D. Corliss; S. Butt; T. Wiltshire; C. P. Ausschnitt; M. Smith

doi:10.1117/12.656520

15 March 2006 Laser bandwidth and other sources of focus blur in lithography

T. Brunner, D. Corliss, S. Butt, T. Wiltshire, C. P. Ausschnitt, M. Smith

Proceedings Volume 6154, Optical Microlithography XIX; 61540V (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.656520
Event: SPIE 31st International Symposium on Advanced Lithography, 2006, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

It is well known that the refractive optics used in today's exposure tools are highly chromatic, meaning that small wavelength shifts will cause large focus shifts. Even a line-narrowed excimer laser has a large enough range of wavelengths that we can no longer think of an infinitely thin image plane. The concept of "focus blur" can be generalized to encompass the effect of laser bandwidth chromatic aberrations, vertical stage vibrations (MSDz) and stage tilts which cause focus to change during the scan. This paper will introduce a new parameter called Mean Absolute Defocus (MAD) that can characterize the focus blur, and will be shown to correlate with the lithographic effects. Focus blur can be incorporated into simulation models, in a manner similar to the way that stage vibration is modeled. New simulation results will illustrate the impact of focus blur on modern lithographic processes. Process stability and machine-to-machine matching issues will be discussed.

Citation Download Citation

T. Brunner, D. Corliss, S. Butt, T. Wiltshire, C. P. Ausschnitt, and M. Smith "Laser bandwidth and other sources of focus blur in lithography", Proc. SPIE 6154, Optical Microlithography XIX, 61540V (15 March 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.656520

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