We report the design of an Extreme Ultraviolet microscope relying on Ultrafast Ptychographic Coherent Diffractive Imaging. This compact tool is capable of imaging the functional response of interfaces and heterogeneous nanomaterials activated by light pulses, across length scales, with high spatio-temporal resolutions, and with exquisite contrast to their chemical composition and to their morphology.
Understanding topological spin textures is important because of scientific interests and technological applications. However, observing nanoscale magnetization and mapping out their interactions in 3D have been challenging–due to the lack of nondestructive vector nanoimaging techniques that penetrate thick samples. Recently, we developed a new characterization technique, soft x-ray vector ptycho-tomography, to image spin textures with a 3D vector spatial resolution of 10 nm. Using 3D magnetic metamaterial as an example, we demonstrated the creation and observation of topological magnetic monopoles and their interactions. We expect this method to be applied broadly to image vector fields in magnetic samples and beyond.
With increasingly 3D devices becoming the norm, there is a growing need in the semiconductor industry and in materials science for high spatial resolution, non-destructive metrology techniques capable of determining depth-dependent composition information on devices. We present a solution to this problem using ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) implemented using a commercially available, tabletop 13 nm source. We present the design, simulations, and preliminary results from our new complex EUV imaging reflectometer, which uses coherent 13 nm light produced by tabletop high harmonic generation. This tool is capable of determining spatially-resolved composition vs. depth profiles for samples by recording ptychographic images at multiple incidence angles. By harnessing phase measurements, we can locally and nondestructively determine quantities such as device and thin film layer thicknesses, surface roughness, interface quality, and dopant concentration profiles. Using this advanced imaging reflectometer, we can quantitatively characterize materials-sciencerelevant and industry-relevant nanostructures for a wide variety of applications, spanning from defect and overlay metrology to the development and optimization of nano-enhanced thermoelectric or spintronic devices.
We present preliminary through-pellicle imaging using a 30nm tabletop extreme ultraviolet (EUV) coherent diffractive imaging microscope. We show that even in a non-optimized setup, this technique enables through-pellicle imaging of a sample with no detectable impact on image fidelity or resolution.
Using a tabletop coherent extreme ultraviolet source, we extend current nanoscale metrology capabilities with applications spanning from new models of nanoscale transport and materials, to nanoscale device fabrication. We measure the ultrafast dynamics of acoustic waves in materials; by analyzing the material’s response, we can extract elastic properties of films as thin as 11nm. We extend this capability to a spatially resolved imaging modality by using coherent diffractive imaging to image the acoustic waves in nanostructures as they propagate. This will allow for spatially resolved characterization of the elastic properties of non-isotropic materials.
EUV lithography is promising for addressing upcoming, <10nm nodes for the semiconductor industry, but with this promise comes the need for reliable metrology techniques. In particular, there is a need for actinic mask inspection in which the imaging wavelength matches that of the intended lithography process, so that the most relevant defects are detected. Here, we demonstrate tabletop, ptychographic, coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) in reflection- and transmission-modes of extended samples, using a 13 nm high harmonic generation (HHG) source. We achieve the first sub-wavelength resolution EUV image (0.9λ) in transmission, the highest spatial resolution using any 13.5 nm source to date. We also present the first reflection-mode image obtained on a tabletop using 12.7 nm light. This work represents the first 12.7 nm reflection-mode image using any source of a general sample.
We present an extension of ptychography coherent diffractive imaging that enables simultaneous imaging of several areas of an extended sample using multiple, spatially separated interfering beams. We show that this technique will increase the throughput of an imaging system by a factor that is equal to the number of beams used. This allows for the acquisition of large field of view images with near diffraction-limited resolution without an increase in data acquisition. This represents a significant step towards large field of view, high resolution imaging in the EUV and x-ray energy regimes.
We present an extension to ptychography that allows simultaneous deconvolution of multiple, spatially separate, illuminating probes. This enables an increased field of view and hence, an increase in imaging throughput, without increased exposure times. This technique can be used for any non-interfering probes: demonstrated with multiple wavelengths and orthogonal polarizations. The latter of which gives us spatially resolved polarization spectroscopy from a single scan.
We use EUV coherent microscopy to obtain high-resolution images of buried interfaces, with chemical specificity, in 2+1 dimensions. We perform reflection mode, ptychographic, coherent diffractive imaging with tabletop EUV light, at 29nm, produced by high harmonic generation. Our damascene-style samples consist of copper structures inlaid in SiO2, polished nearly flat with chemical mechanical polishing. We obtain images of both an unaltered damascene as well as one buried below a 100nm thick layer of evaporated aluminum. The aluminum is opaque to visible light and thick enough that neither optical microscopy, SEM, nor AFM can access the buried interface. EUV microscopy is able to image the buried structures, non-destructively, in conditions where other techniques cannot.
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