The current industry plan is for EUV Lithography (EUVL) to enter High Volume Manufacturing (HVM) in the 2019/20 timeframe at about the 16nm half-pitch node (16hp). Reticle quality and reticle defects continue to be a top industry risk. The primary reticle defect quality requirement continues to be defined as “no reticle defects causing 10% or larger CD errors on wafer”. Traditionally, mask shops and mask blank manufacturers have been using bright field confocal technology to perform mask blank qualification. However, due to more stringent defect requirements for EUV blank defects, and the difficulty in detecting and repairing any mask defects caused by a blank defect, the industry requires a new approach to detect defects to support 16 nm hp EUV manufacturing. To meet these emerging requirements, we have developed a new dark field imaging system for photomask blank inspection. This system can be used in the blank manufacturing process to inspect the quartz blank, to inspect after film deposition, and to inspect the finished blank after resist coating. In the mask shop, the same system can be used to inspect an uncoated blank prior to resist coating, or to perform incoming inspection on a finished blank, prior to writing. In this paper, we report on the initial results from this new system on a range of programmed defect blanks as well as production photomask blanks. Inspection results will be shown on a variety of substrates, both for EUV blanks as well as optical blanks.
Reticle quality and the capability to qualify a reticle remain key issues for EUV Lithography. In this paper, we report on
recent advancements that extend the capability of a 193 nm mask inspector to meet requirements for the 22 nm HP / 15
nm Logic node. This work builds upon previous work that was published earlier this year, by D. Wack1, et. al. Meeting
these requirements requires development of a number of novel capabilities for mask inspection, including the use of offaxis
illumination, various polarization modes, and use of an optimized absorber stack for EUV masks. In addition, we
discuss the challenges of inspecting EUV masks in die-to-database mode, and how tone inversion can be successfully
modeled. Lastly, we show that this same 193 nm mask inspector, with the use of proprietary algorithms, can be
extended to meet industry requirements for EUV phase defect blank inspection.
Reticle quality and the capability to qualify a reticle are key issues for EUV Lithography. We expect current and
planned optical inspection systems will provide inspection capability adequate for development and production of 2X
HP masks. We illustrate inspection technology extendibility through simulation of 193nm-based inspection of advanced
EUV patterned masks. The influence of EUV absorber design for 193nm optical contrast and defect sensitivity will be
identified for absorber designs of current interest.
Reticle quality and the capability to qualify a reticle are key issues for EUV Lithography. We expect current and
planned optical inspection systems will provide inspection capability adequate for development and production of 2X
HP masks. We illustrate inspection technology extendibility through simulation of 193nm-based inspection of advanced
EUV patterned masks. The influence of EUV absorber design for 193nm optical contrast and defect sensitivity will be
identified for absorber designs of current interest.
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