Characterization of E-beam induced resist slimming using etched feature measurements

Colin Yates; Galen Sapp; Paul Knutrud

doi:10.1117/12.601155

10 May 2005 Characterization of E-beam induced resist slimming using etched feature measurements

Colin Yates, Galen Sapp, Paul Knutrud

Proceedings Volume 5752, Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XIX; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.601155
Event: Microlithography 2005, 2005, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

ArF resist is critical in the production of today's state-of-the-art lithography. It is well documented that process control measurements via CD-SEM at landing energies greater than 200 eV significantly slims the ArF resist, leading to inaccurate measurements and changes in the final geometries of the feature measured in-circuit. Resist slimming is most frequently quantified as the difference between consecutive measurements of the same feature. This study uses an alternative method to measure the slimming caused by a single measurement on a resist feature. Measurements were taken of etched features that had been exposed on a CD-SEM to various beam conditions prior to etch. The slimming was calculated by measuring the delta between the exposed portion of the line and the adjacent un-exposed portion of the same line. Previous work and the results of this current work show that the slimming of the ArF resist carries over through the etch process and measurably altered the final CD. In this work a systematic study of various image acquisition conditions shows that the choice of landing energy dominates all other factors affecting the amount of slimming, with near zero slimming measured for the 100 eV landing energy.

Citation Download Citation

Colin Yates, Galen Sapp, and Paul Knutrud "Characterization of E-beam induced resist slimming using etched feature measurements", Proc. SPIE 5752, Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XIX, (10 May 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.601155

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