IC Fabrication Technology

EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET LITHOGRAPHY

MAHARSHI PANDYA 2021H1230215H

KALICHETI VISHNUVARDHAN REDDY 2021H1230221H
WHAT IS PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY

 Photolithography, also called optical

lithography or UV lithography, is a process
used in microfabrication to pattern parts on
a thin film or the bulk of a substrate (also
called a wafer).
 It uses light to transfer a geometric
pattern from a photomask (also called
an optical mask) to a photosensitive (that is,
light-sensitive) chemical photoresist on the
substrate.
EUV LITHOGRAPHY

 EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography uses an EUV light of the

extremely short wavelength of 13.5 nm. It allows exposure of
fine circuit patterns with a half-pitch below 20 nm that cannot be
exposed by the conventional optical lithography using an ArF
excimer laser
 EUV Lithography is done in vacuum. As all material including
gases/air absorbs EUV radiation.
BASIC CONCEPT OF EUV
The Ernst Abbe theory expresses the resolution limit of microscope as

Today abbe’s formula is used in optical lithography in the form

resolution
TRANSITION TO EUV IS A BIG JUMP
There are only so many
“tricks” to increase this
gap, and they are very
expensive … we must go to
a shorter wavelength!

From To Comment
g-line i-line Minor process changes.
i-line KrF Major changes:
 Type of light source (arc lamp  excimer laser).
 Invention of new resist concept was required.
 Only fused silica for lenses.
 It took a decade.
KrF ArF Few significant changes:
 Light sources still excimer lasers.
 Resists still based on existing concept.
ArF ArF Few significant changes:
immersion  Same light sources, resist platforms.
ArF EUV Total paradigm shift
immersion
WHY EUV LITHOGRAPHY

• Shorter  gives higher resolution.

• No need of resolution enhancement
techniques.
• Relax the requirement for NA.
• For EUV lithography,  =13.5nm where efficient
“lens” (reflected mirror) exists.
CHALLENGES IN EUV LITHOGRAPHY

 Vacuum
 Optics
 Mask
 Contamination
PROCESS OF EUV LITHOGRAPHY
KEY FEATURES EUV LITHOGRAPHY

 Light source
 Optics
 Photo resist
OPTICS

 Most important part of Lithography

 Mirrors are used instead of lenses. & entire EUVL process is
reflective
 Reflectivity of individual material is very low(< 1%). So,
distributed Bragg reflectors are used which can increase
reflectivity to 60-70%.
MULTILAYER REFLECTORS

 the reflecting surfaces in EUVL systems are coated with

multilayer thin films.
 These coating consist of a large number of alternating layers
of materials having dissimilar EUV reflective constant.
 Period of layer is ʎ/2.
 If multilayers are made up of alternative Molybdenum and
Silicon, they work best for about 13 nm with peak reflectivity
at 13.4 nm.
 If multilayers are made up of alternative Molybdenum and
Beryllium, they work best for about 11 nm.
 Peak reflectivity in multilayer
reflector is about 70%.

 For peak reflectivity in Mo-Be, 60

alternative layers are required.

 For peak reflectivity in Mo-Si, 40

alternative layers are required.
 ARRANGEMENT OF REFLECTORS

 Schematic of for mirror camera

is as mentioned here.
 Blue segments are
mirrors being fabricated from
parent ‘red’ mirrors.
 M3 mirror is spherical and other three mirrors are aspheres.
 It has an NA = 0.1 and is designed to be used with Mo:Si
multilayer reflectors at a wavelength of 13.4 nm.
MASKS
 Masks are reflective, not transmissive.
 Mask is made up of patterned absorber of EUV radiation
placed on top of multilayer reflector.
 The reflectance spectrum of the mask must be matched to
that of the multilayer reflector -coated mirrors in the camera.
 Mask must be defect free.
Mask

 Defects in mask is one of the main challenges

 Defect in mask comes from multilayer reflector.
 If defect is in first layer, it can be removed as show in fig.
 If defect is in any other level, we have to throw away mask.
Masks

ftp://download.intel.com/research/library/IR-TR-2003-39-ChuckGwynPhotomaskJapan0503.pdf
Light Source

  The amount of power required at wafer to mask pattern onto the wafer, Pw is 0.12W.
 Power required by source is,
Ps =
where Fc is fraction of power emitted by source that is collected and used in
imaging system
Fl is the fraction of light intensity that is reduced due to losses that accrue
as the light passes through the imaging system
  Ps for the mercury vapour lamp and microlithography is 1.92W(~2W)
(Fc = 0.25 and Fl = 0.25)
 Ps for excimer laser for microlithography is 0.48W(~0.5W)(Fc = 1 and Fl = 0.25)
 For EUVL, we can use two types of source: continuously operating source and pulsed source.
 For both type of sources, we can express Fl as

where R= reflectivity of multiple coated layer

N= No of reflective surfaces
T= other transmissive optical element
  
Putting R = 0.7(70% reflactivity), N = 7(Assuming 7 layer reflactor) and T = 0.5(~50% for both Mo-Si and
Mo-Be system)

 𝐹𝑙= ( 0.7 ) 7 ∗ 0.5= 0.04

 For continuous source- synchrotron, Fc = 1, as such
= 3W
 i.e., continuous 3W source is required. However, synchrotrons tend to be large and very expensive. To be
cost-effective, each synchrotron would have to supply the power to several steppers, which is not a mode of
operation that is desirable from a lithographer’s perspective.
 So, in industry, continuous source- synchrotron is not used.
  For, Pulsed Point Source—Laser-Produced Plasma or Discharge is activated only for ¼ of total times.
 As such, Fc = 0.25

 The frequency of pulsed source is 500-5000 Hz and energy per pulse is 2.4-24 mJ/pulse
 Since there are no laser sources operating in the EUV wavelength regions that can produce anywhere near
that kind of energy or repetition rate, an incoherent source would be the only possible pulsed source.
Incoherent Source

  

 If we use incoherent cylindrical source with diameter and length of 1nm, we can generate
Ps varying from
 But this intensity will be radiating in all the direction ( 4Π sr).
 By using laser amplifier with length L (L=100*l),we can amplify the power reaching the
wafer and we can focus the Ps from to a single direction (towards the wafer)
Intensity- wavelength graph
(Incoherent source)
References

 Intense EUV Incoherent Plasma Sources for EUV Lithography and Other Applications -
William T. Silfvast, Fellow, IEEE (1999)
 EUV Lithography—The Successor to Optical Lithography? -John E. Bjorkholm, Advanced
Lithography Department, Technology and Manufacturing Group, Santa Clara, CA.(Intel
Corporation)(1998)
 Extreme Ultra-Violet Lithography- Matt Smith, Penn State University(2006)
Thank you