Tripp Robert Spivey | spiver@rpi.

edu EUV Collaborator: Ranganath Teki Faculty Advisor: Toh-Ming Lu

Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180

Introduction to EUVL Defects Idealized Gaussian Defect Template Mechanism of Unique Decay
To keep up with Moore’s law Extreme Ultraviolet Both symmetric and asymmetric Gaussian shaped defects were This begs the question: what quantifiable differences
Lithography (EUVL) is the leading candidate to replace produced as an ideal case, if these shapes can reproduce the between these shapes cause the unique decays?
current methods used to produce semiconductor devices decays seen experimentally then these shapes can be used for Probability of diffusion = exp −(𝐸𝑎 + 𝑛𝑛 𝐸𝑛 )/kT
 EUV (λ = 13.5 nm) photon energies exceed the band gaps simulation substrates, allowing good control of volume and shape Effective activation energy, 𝑬𝑨 = 𝐸𝑎 + 𝑛𝑛 𝐸𝑛 composed
for all materials so they are strongly absorbed  Fitting tried to match long of 𝐸𝑎 the activation energy of surface diffusion and 𝐸𝑛
 All EUVL optics use defect free Mo/Si multilayer films which term decay rate to reproduce the nearest neighbor bond energy is differentiated
reflect light by interlayer interference the material properties across the surface by 𝑛𝑛 , the amount of nearest
 The multilayer coating must be made to extreme precision,  Short term transients in the neighbors, local geometry biases diffusion strength
overcoming EUV defects is a pressing challenge preventing physical behavior were
this technology from widespread implementation  The only mechanism of defect width increase during
attributed to asymmetry
deposition is diffusion events
 Current findings suggest the Transmission Electron Microscopy cross  Asymmetric Gaussians of
defects are impossible to
section of defect aspect ratio decay during
multilayer Mo/Si deposition similar volume and shape to  Unstable atoms diffuse into the center which decays
eliminate entirely observed defects still failed the depth and by extension aspect ratio, their
 Compensating for their absence on the lattice exposes new unstable material
The progression of time

existence through optical  The changing rate of aspect ratio decay must be tied
simulation is the current to the statistics of the effective activation energy
solution landscape, paths to statistical equilibrium are unique
 The full multilayer structure
of the defect is an important
input to these simulations
A Better Fit Using AFM Defect Templates
Currently there is no usable 3-d model of defect evolution
validating Monte Carlo methods for this use is the goal Templates drawn from Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) scans of
observed defects which were properly scaled for discrete lattice units
Monte Carlo Thin Film Simulations and smoothed (to remove scan noise) are used in the simulation to fit
Thin film deposition is a complex system whose behavior arises  Simulation using AFM
from a symphony of unrelated events of very different time defects allowed much
and size scales. Full molecular dynamics simulations would be better fit of shape
 Early transients are
impossible with current computational methods, simplified
replicated as well as the
Future Work
discrete methods can be used which still capture important
long term decay  Statistical survey of typical EUVL defects, current
morphological behaviors
The Solid-on-solid aggregation model  Despite the real initial findings suggest that natural defects of the same size
 Matrix of heights represents the surface, the initial matrix defect being different scale are statistically identical, so any scan can be used
is called a template, no overhanging particles are allowed than the template  Work on GPGPU parallel implementation of Solid-on-
 Particles are deposited according to the chosen velocity solid model which would allow these simulation
distribution, their initial positions are chosen randomly  Aspect Ratio can be methods to be useful for practical applications
and they are propagated in a strait line measured from TEM,  Aspect ratio growth using shadowing by an initial pit
 Most simulation time is spent upon diffusion events which AFM, and Simulation data
propagate particles along the surface  It is defined as depth/
FWHM so that a decay to
Typical simulations for this study deposit ~5 billion zero is observed
particles with ~500 billion surface diffusion events