In the past ZERODUR® was mainly used for mirror and substrate applications, where mechanical loads were given by its
own weight. Nowadays substrates become more sophisticated and subject to higher stresses as consequences of high
operational accelerations or vibrations. The integrity of structures such as reticle and wafer stages e.g. must be
guaranteed with low failure probability over their full intended life time. Their design requires statistically relevant
strength data and information.
The usual way determining the design strength employs statistical Weibull distributions obtained from a set of
experimental data extrapolating the results to low acceptable failure probability values. However, in many cases this led
to allowable stress values too low for the intended application. Moreover, the experimental basis has been found to be
too small for reliable calculations.
For these reasons measurement series on the strength of ZERODUR® have been performed with different surface
conditions employing a standardized ring-on-ring test setup. The numbers of specimens per sample have been extended
from about 20 to 100 or even much more. The results for surfaces ground with different diamond grain sizes D151, D64
and D25 as well as for etched surfaces are presented in this paper.
Glass ceramics like all glassy materials exhibit some strength reduction when being exposed to loads above a tensile
stress threshold over long time periods. The strength change of ZERODUR® with time will be discussed on the basis of
known and newly determined stress corrosion data.
The results for samples with large numbers of specimens contribute new aspects to the common practice of extrapolation
to low failure probability, since they provide evidence for the existence of minimum strength values depending on the
structures surface conditions. For ground surfaces the evidence for minimum strength values is quite obvious. For etched
surfaces minimum values are to be expected also. However, here closer observation is still needed. The systematic
deviations from Weibull distributions lie below about 5 % failure probability and thus could not be seen in small samples
as they were common in the past.
LIMO's unique production technology is capable to manufacture free form surfaces on monolithic arrays larger than 250
mm with high precision and reproducibility. Different kinds of intensity distributions with best uniformities or
customized profiles have been achieved by using LIMO's refractive optical elements. Recently LIMO pushed the limits
of this lens production technology and was able to manufacture first diffractive optical elements (DOEs) based on
continuous relief's profile.
Beside for the illumination devices in lithography, DOEs find wide use in optical devices for other technological
applications, such as optical communications, laser technologies and data processing. Classic lithographic technologies
lead to quantized (step-like) profiles of diffractive micro-reliefs, which cause a decrease of DOE's diffractive efficiency.
The newest development of LIMO's microlens fabrication technology allows us to make a step from free programmable
microlens profiles to diffractive optical elements with high efficiency. Our first results of this approach are demonstrated
in this paper. Diffractive beam splitters with continuous profile are fabricated and investigated. The results of profile
measurements and intensity distribution of the diffractive beam splitters are given. The comparison between theoretical
simulations and experimental results shows very good correlation.
LIMO's unique production technology based on computer-aided design enables the manufacture of high precision
asphere single lenses and arrays, where every single lens can be individually shaped. These free form micro-optical
cylindrical lens and lens arrays find their application in various types of metrology systems. Due to the high precise
manufacturing of specially designed surface, single lenses can be bond directly onto sensor or sensor arrays, performing
efficient projection of signal onto detector. Optical modules based on micro-lenses arrays enable special intensity
distribution, as well as highly homogeneous illumination with inhomogeneity less then 1% (peak to valley) used in
illumination parts of inspection tools. Due to the special free form profile, a special case of asymmetric lens arrays can
offer extreme uniformity illumination at the target non orthogonal to the illumination path. The feature under inspection
can be uniformly illuminated even if it lies at a specific angle to the illumination. This allows better conditions for
measurement devices arranged orthogonal to the mask or wafer. Furthermore the use of micro-optics enables more
sufficient inspection of laser beam parameters for excimer or
CO2 lasers. Additionally very accurate metal patterns can
be applied on the optics and used as alignment marks, apertures or bonding features.
High power laser sources are used in a large variety of applications for material processing, such as ablation, welding,
soldering, cutting, drilling, laser annealing, micro-machining and deep-UV lithography. Using high performance optics
in the laser systems to generate the appropriate beam profile becomes a key factor for getting the best results and
throughput in an application field. Refractive micro-lens arrays made of glass, semiconductors or crystals provide great
advantages in laser applications, by improving efficiency, precision, intensity stability and performance.
With LIMO's unique production technology, free form surfaces on monolithic arrays exceeding 200 mm edge length can
be manufactured with high precision and reproducibility. Each lens of the array can be designed individually and can
also be shaped asymmetrically. The asymmetric shape is defined by
odd- and even-polynomial terms and/or an
asymmetric cut-off from a polynomial surface. Advantages of asymmetric micro-lenses are off-axis light propagation,
the correction of aberration effects, or the correction of the intensity profile deformations when the illuminated surfaces
are not orthogonal to the optical axis.
The applications results of such micro-lens arrays are presented for beam shaping of high power diode lasers. The
generation of a homogeneous light field by a 100 W laser with tilted illumination under an angle of 30°-50° is shown. A
multi-kW line generator based on the superposition of over 50 diode laser bars under different illumination angles is
demonstrated as well.
Novel microoptical beam shapers in lithographic applications reduce the complexity of macrooptics in hyper-NA illumination systems. Extremely uniform intensity distribution can be created without using field lenses or by using simple spherical field lenses instead of complex aspheres.
Optical lithography in the deep ultraviolet (DUV) region is being pushed to reach the limits of printing resolution. The
effort required to achieve the 32 nm structure with this technology puts very hard conditions and requests on the
illumination optics. Different kinds of illumination modes are combined to get into a regime of extreme numerical
aperture (hyper NA). Arrays of refractive micro-optics have been and continue to be the ideal solution for high
transmission homogenizing elements for several tool generations.
Illumination of the masks with high numerical aperture is critical for achieving the smallest structure on the
semiconductor material. Exposure tools use different illumination modes to get better imaging of certain mask structures.
The beam shaping necessary to create these illumination modes is achieved mostly with diffractive elements. Most of the
currently used modes can also be created with arrays of refractive micro-optics, manufactured from fused silica and
calcium fluoride. The advantage over the diffractive optical elements lies in efficiency, which comes close to 90%.
An important prerequisite for these special types of optical elements is LIMO's unique production technology which can
manufacture free form surfaces on monolithic arrays exceeding 200 mm edge length with high precision and
reproducibility. These homogenizing elements in the illumination optics can provide a custom designed intensity
distribution, and offer the possibility to correct the failure of other optical elements. Each lens can be designed
individually and can also be shaped asymmetrically. Thus unusual lens sizes and shapes can be produced, and various far
fields such as rectangles, lines, hexagons or multi-poles can be achieved.
In this paper we present novel refractive micro-optical elements which create rectangular dipole illumination. They can
also be combined in such a way as to create a quadrupole with variable intensity ratio between the vertical and horizontal
poles. The huge advantage of such a multipole illumination is polarization control and variable intensity in poles. Working on this combination, the resolution can be enhanced even further.
Uniform illumination of the mask is a key factor for the lithography process. The requirements of Immersion Lithography make illumination systems even more complex e.g. by adding additional parameters like polarization and improved throughput. Arrays of refractive microoptics are the ideal solution for high transmission homogenizing elements since several tool generations. These arrays can provide very steep intensity profiles (top hat and other profiles), enable lossless polarization control and do not suffer from zero order losses like diffractive elements.
Usually refractive microlens arrays are used with macrooptical field lenses in order to illuminate a field very uniformly or with a customized intensity distribution. High numerical apertures create the necessity for aspherical surfaces which leads to significantly higher lens cost especially for the macrooptics. In this paper we present novel microoptical homogenizers which create extremely uniform intensity distributions for high numerical apertures without any field lens or at least only with spherical field lenses. Especially multi-pole off-axis illumination can be improved with less optical components. An important prerequisite for these special types of homogenizers is that LIMO can produce free form surfaces on monolithic arrays larger than 200 mm with high precision and reproducibility. Every lens can be designed individually and can also be shaped asymmetrically.
We will present surface test methods and the final UV tests, guaranteeing the performance for the applications. Example data gained with these tests will be shown with regard to: meeting the design parameters, reproducibility over one wafer and reproducibility in large lots.
Monolithic elements based on crossed cylindrical lenses provide a fill factor close to 100%. Simulations and measurements prove that microoptic arrays can be produced which provide a uniformity of the homogenized laser light of significantly better than 1% P-V at numerical apertures above 0.35.
Refractive microoptic arrays do not change the polarization state of the transmitted light which is an important prerequisite in immersion exposure tools. LIMO homogenizer sets are manufactured from fused silica and Calcium Fluoride thus they are suitable for all DUV wavelengths at highest laser fluxes.
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