SCAPSM: attenuated phase-shift mask structure for EUV lithography

The attenuated phase-shift mask (Att. PSM) is proven to be a promising resolution enhancement technology (RET) to improve the imaging performance in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. However, due to the reflective nature of the mask structure, the serious shadowing effect can affect the diffrac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied optics (2004) 2024-03, Vol.63 (9), p.2263
Main Authors: Li, Chen, Dong, Lisong, Wei, Yayi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Diffraction
Imaging
Integrated circuits
Lithography
Phase shift
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Summary:The attenuated phase-shift mask (Att. PSM) is proven to be a promising resolution enhancement technology (RET) to improve the imaging performance in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. However, due to the reflective nature of the mask structure, the serious shadowing effect can affect the diffraction near field of the mask intensely and further impact the lithography imaging. With the purpose of improving the contrast of lithography imaging, a novel structure of the Att. PSM, to the best of our knowledge, is proposed in this paper. By introducing an absorbent sidewall along the edge of the mask absorber, the diffraction and shadowing effects can be mitigated. By applying the Kirchhoff approximation of mask diffraction, the ability of the novel structure to improve imaging performance is theoretically analyzed. Additionally, these analyses are confirmed by rigorous lithography simulations. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed mask structure can improve the imaging contrast of EUV lithography, which has potential usage in advanced integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing.
ISSN:1559-128X
2155-3165
DOI:10.1364/AO.517264