25 years ago, Fraunhofer IOF started the very first project on EUV multilayer development. This paper summarizes highlights of this exciting journey from the first still low reflecting multilayer coating made in 1998 to today’s 15 million € investment in optiX fab’s EUV optics fab.
The combination of a 10.6 μm main pulse CO2 laser and a 1064 nm pre-pulse Nd:YAG laser in EUV source concepts for HVM would require collector mirrors with an integrated spectral purity filter that suppresses both laser wavelengths. This paper discusses a new approach of a dual-wavelength spectral purity filter to suppress 10.6 μm and 1064 nm IR radiation at the same time. The dual-wavelength spectral purity filter combines two binary phase gratings that are optimized for 10.6 μm and 1064 nm, respectively. The dual phase grating structure has been realized on spherical sub-aperture EUV collector mirrors having an outer diameter of 150 mm. IR suppression factors of 260 at 10.6 μm and 620 at 1064 nm have been measured on the sub-aperture EUV collector while its EUV reflectance exceeded 64 % at 13.5 nm.
The usable power of high-power EUV light sources at 13.5 nm and also the lifetime of source and collector optics are
currently considered to be the largest challenges encountered during the transition of EUV lithography from the current beta-tool status to high-volume manufacturing. Fraunhofer IOF Jena has developed cost-effective refurbishment technologies of multilayer-based near normal incidence collector mirrors for high-power laser-produced plasma sources. Presently, the collector mirror lifetime exceeds 80 billion laser pulses which correspond to a lifetime of several months during continuous use of the source. Together with their partners Cymer is currently carrying out a focused program to improve the collector lifetime. New multilayer coatings together with new in-situ cleaning strategies during source operation are key technology development strategies to get closer to the ultimate target of about one year collector lifetime. The paper discusses different LPP collector refurbishment strategies and presents the recent status on collector refurbishment techniques.
The usable power and the collector optics lifetime of high-power extreme ultraviolet light sources at 13.5 nm are
considered as the major challenges in the transitioning of EUV lithography from the current pre-production phase to
high volume manufacturing. We give a detailed performance summary of the large ellipsoidal multilayer collector
mirrors used in Cymer's laser-produced plasma extreme ultraviolet light sources. In this paper we present the optical
performance - reflectance and wavelength - of the multilayer-coated ellipsoidal collectors as well as a novel approach
for the roughness characterization of large EUV mirror optics based on light scattering measurements at 442 nm. We
also describe the optical performance and characteristics during operation of the light source and the substantial increase
of collector lifetime by the implementation of new coating designs.
The demand for enhanced optical resolution in order to structure and observe ever smaller details has pushed optics development in recent years. There is increasing interest in optical components for the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral region mainly as a result of the production of more powerful electronic circuits with the aid of projection lithography.
Due to absorption at wavelengths below 100 nm the penetration depth of EUV radiation into matter is only a few nano-meters. Hence, reflective optics must be used for imaging and light collection such as EUV multilayer mirrors which consist of alternating thin films with different refractive indices. This basic idea can be compared to the classic, high reflective λ/4 systems: the constructive interference of all beams reflected at the film interfaces.
At Fraunhofer IOF Jena multilayer optics development cover the full range between the soft X-rays around 2 nm wave-length and the vacuum ultraviolet. However, the paper will focus on multilayer optics for EUV lithography applications at 13.5 nm. Besides the development of high-reflective multilayers with enhanced thermal and radiation stability using interface engineering and optimized capping layers collector and imaging optics for diverse applications in the EUV spectral range have been realized. The deposition of EUV collector mirrors for high-power laser produced plasma (LPP) sources is discussed.
The paper summarizes recent progress and the present knowledge in preparation and characterization of multilayer optics for the EUV spectral range with regard to maximum optical performance, minimization of structure imperfections, reduc-tion of residual stresses as well as enhanced thermal and radiation stability.
The source output power and lifetime, including the collector optics lifetime, are among the key issues for EUV lithography systems. In order to meet the requirements for the EUV collector mirror, both the reflectivity and the long-term thermal stability of its multilayer coating have been enhanced considerably during recent development efforts. Sub-aperture ellipsoidal mirrors of different substrate materials with outer diameters of about 320 mm were coated with
laterally graded high-temperature multilayers. The interface-engineered Mo/Si multilayer mirror (MLM) coatings were optimized in terms of high peak reflectivity at 13.5 nm and working temperatures above 400°C. Thin barrier layers were introduced on both interfaces to block thermally induced interdiffusion processes of molybdenum and silicon and to provide long-term optical stability of the coating at elevated temperatures. A normal-incidence reflectance of R ~ 60 %
at 13.5 nm was measured on Si wafer samples after heating up to 600°C. No degradation of the optical properties of these multilayer coatings occurred during both long-term heating tests and multiple annealing cycles. On highly polished collector substrates with improved surface roughness a reflectance for s-polarized light exceeding peak values of R = 57 % was obtained. With optimized layer gradient the degree of wavelength matching was improved, as well,
resulting in peak reflectivity values above 56 % throughout the clear aperture for a series of measurement points across the mirror. The corresponding area-weighted 2% in-band average reflectance for this collector mirror coating exceeds 52 % for unpolarized light.
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