ITHRAPHY 145

sit of
Wseparated from a parallel mage plane (wafer) by
Wh
wdth
a
gap
that g and
long and W are larger than the
assume wavelength A of the
imaging light
We
A
<W ?A-the
/A
region of Fresnel ditfraction Then the
thatthat
and diffraction
wms the image of the slit is a function only of the particular combination
and g whch we shall call the parameter O where

- WV21Ag)
n nattems arewell knowIn. Some are shown in
soldcurvcs).The limit g W/A Fig. 4 for O 2, 3
in Fig.
4 show the light intensity at the
to Qcoresponds
v2 The dashed
gles mask The larger the
the more faithful the image. Thus the resolution becomes better at value
shorter wavelengths. smaller
na
ans and
TwO other noteworthy features ot the dffraction
2.
patterns are the ragged
neaks and the slope near a The
=

peaks can be smoothed

her than collimated light. The dotted curves are for light withbya use of diverging
ce a.SA Wradians. If a divergence half
becomes
large, the edge slope is reduced further
inreasing lnewidth control problems. Some smoothing also occurs
because of the
snread of wavelengths in the source, but this is a smaller effect. The illumination
swstem must provide an apparent source size
large enough to givevalue of a -
a
Dically a few degrees-optimized for the smallest features be printed. This
to
is
illustrated in Fig. 5. The
mercury arc used as source is too small to
reauired scheme like that illustrated in
a. so a yield the
must also minimize
Fig. 5c is used. The optical system
nonuniformity intensity across the field: typically this
of
be 3 to 5%. Figure 6 shows the may
illumination of a system
ilumination is telecentric, or proximity printer. The
normally incident, at the mask to prevent
magnification) errors. With a
runout
Hg arc source the strong lines at 436 nm, 405 nm.

IMAGE
MASK PLANE

FIGURE 3
Ftoximity printing idealization.
 146 VLSI TECHNOLOGY

Q2

a 0(COLLIMATED)

a 0 6/W

X (m)

(a)

Q7
Q3

(m) X (m)

(b) (c)
FIGURE 4
Image of slit with Q 2.0
=
3, and Q =
7.8 =
10 um; A =
0.4 um. (After Watts, Ref. 47.)

POINT
| APPARENT
SOURCE SOURCEE
DIAMETER
(a)

MIRROR
-

EXTENDED
SOURCE SOURCE
(b)

CONDENSER MASK (c)

LENS
FIGURE 5 WAFER
PrOXimity printing with collimated and
Ource. {c) shows a way of
obtaining anuncollimated light. (After Watts,
extended source like Ref. 47.) (a) sno poinl

that depicted schematicN L

 RAPHY
365 nm proVIde exposure fux The same 147
and
sourne for nhanced output in the 20X) 30M) prir ter is avail
ble with
rlong nm
spectral region. Xe Hg
m (ats and 2 exposure
very
ofI mn comparcd with standard Exposure times
resists) are
PMMA res am resoution is obtained
A de of a feature in with g10 m torequired with
developed
eht intensity and expoure time resist Curs at
the
20 um 7

cquals the
position where the
resist
uncwidthcontrol
is in general more difficultiin threshold dose.
NTniing Linewidth is infuenced by variations inproximity printing than in contact
poyties Linewidth has been
light intensity. gap g. and
measured as a function
of ight resist
*
The linewidth variation, intensity I and
wafer gap.
defined as the
m.ask h line on the mask, is proportional to In and printed width minus the
wdth of to
there is an optimum exposure intensity which Vg. and for each
gap
arian on linewidth. The
vanation
mask-wafer gap
minimizes
can
the effect
wafer another because of wafer and mask vary across a wafer and
to
from one
bowing and dirt particles
herweenthe wafer and wafer chuck. This last problem is solved
nly a number of points contact the
with a pin chuck
wafer. For
nrimum value, control of exposure to within 13% exposure intensity near
should provide linewidth
ralof0.5 um, even or large variations of the gap g. Linewidth control to
thin 0.25 um with a 50 um gap has been reported.4
within
Recause of the sloping edges of the diffraction pattern of the
mask object consisting of equally spaced slit, the image
parallel
lines will lose definition
the spacing between lines decreases and the edge tails begin to
the peak intensity in the image (on the lines) andIm the overlap. If Iu
is minimum intensity

LAMP

MA

M3
M2

MASK
WGURE 6
Vilorminmation sysk
ens.
WAFER
(After Wats, anon
Ref. 47.) PLA S500F proximity printer. F =
filter. M =
mirror. L =
fly's eye
 4.2.3 Projection Printing
Projection pinting ofters higher resolution than prOXImity printin.
ing
performan ogethe
large separation hetween mask and wafer Four
important perform.2eh
of a printer are resoluton, level to-level alignment accuracy e parame
iepth of focus. The resolution of an Ccuracy. throug
optical imaging system of nurne.
NA =
sin a withlight of wavelength A is, according to Rayleigh's crit
ina-the separation of two barely resolved point sources.eigh's criterion
f focus I The
The Rayle
is
given by
A/(2 sin a). However, near thee limiting re
ne system. the contrast in the image is imitinoigh
uselessly small.
erfomance can be specified in a more meaningful wayWe shalleshall see how ,
ansfer function. by means o the
We consider a
general optical system (Fig. 7) with
erration is no aberae
a
departure of the imaging wavefront from the Tations
sphericaifom

Yo

Xo
X x

0BJECT PLANE Di
EXIT PUPIL
OF IMAGING IMAGE PLANE
RE 7 SYSTEM
ion
printing idealization.
(After Watts, Ref. 47.)