As the most aggressive features in advanced memory designs continue to shrink, so does the overlay budget. The number of layer stacks also creates unwanted topography, and the alignment robustness of lithography tools becomes much more important for on-product overly. Canon developed a through-the-mask moiré alignment system for the FPA-1200NZ2C nanoimprint lithography (NIL) system allowing high-speed measurement of several alignment marks within each imprint field and alignment compensation to be completed during the imprinting sequence. To provide increased process flexibility and overlay accuracy while maintaining high-productivity, we have developed a new low-noise and high-resolution moiré diffraction alignment system based on spatial phase interferometry. In this paper, we report on the TTM detection system used in FPA-1200NZ2C. In particular, the principle of moiré detection and the improvement of the detection method will be described. The measurement error of moiré is analyzed by a simplified model calculation and we confirmed the relationship between process change and alignment error. Results of analyses proved that selection of the wavelength are key factors for optimizing alignment accuracy. Based on these results we applied the following improvement items: 1) Dual Dipole illumination, 2) Optimization of the alignment wavelength. We evaluated the new alignment system measurement error by comparing the moiré measurement value with the measured overlay values for 24 wafers and confirmed that new TTM alignment system can reduce to the measurement error more than 40%. The data shows that our moiré measurement system can provide process robustness and can support mass-production of leading-edge memory products.
A new technique is introduced to replace DOEs that are used for illumination in lithographic
projectors with polarization computer generated holograms (PCGHs) that produce both arbitrary
intensity and arbitrary polarization state in the illumination pupil. The additional capability of
arbitrary polarization state adds an additional degree of freedom for source-mask optimization.
The PCGHs are similar in design and construction to DOEs, but they incorporate polarizationsensitive
elements. Three experiments are described that demonstrate different configurations of
PCGHs deigned to produce a tangentially polarized ring. Measurements of ratio of polarization
and polarization orientation indicate that all three configurations performed well. Experimetns
are performed with visible (λ = 632.8nm) light.
The images projected by the first vortex via masks, which comprised arrays of closely spaced dark spots that could pattern contacts with critical dimensions smaller than a third of an exposure wavelength in negative photoresist, showed several unexpected anomalies. Under certain conditions, the contact holes were elliptical (rather than round), displaced from their ideal locations, and had major axes oriented in directions that broke the expected symmetries. These effects have now been explained in terms of errors in the mask transmission and phase that give rise to unwanted Fourier components of the image combined with aberrations in the projection lens. Both effects must be present to break all the pattern symmetries. Distortions can be controlled by setting the numerical aperture of the projection lens to filter out four of the nine Fourier components and by proper design of the reticle.
Influences of stress birefringence residual in lens elements of high-resolution projection optics are investigated based on a partially coherent imaging formula that has been modified to incorporate the change of the polarization state by birefringence. Birefringent properties are represented by two-dimensional distribution functions with respect to magnitude and fast-axis direction, and they are determined using random numbers to reproduce actual distributions observed in such materials as calcium fluoride. By repeating calculations using lens data created with different sets of random numbers, the degree of imaging performance degradation is analyzed statistically in terms of the magnitude of birefringence in each lens element, the number of lens element composing a projection lens, and the randomness of fast-axis distributions. It is found that the image contrast for a five-bar line/space pattern decreases squarely proportional to the magnitude, whereas the value decreases linearly proportional to the element number. The influence of randomness is understood in relation to image formations through random phase media.
Influences of birefringence residual in lens materials of projection optics used for microlithography are investigated based on partially coherent imaging formula that has been modified to incorporate the change of polarization states in lens elements. Birefringent properties are represented by two- dimensional functions with respect to magnitude and fast-axis direction, and they are determined using random numbers to reproduce actual distributions in such materials as calcium fluoride. By repeating calculations using lens data created with different sets of random numbers, the degree of imaging performance degradation is analyzed statistically in terms of the magnitude of birefringence in each lens element, the number of lens element composing a projection lens, and the randomness of fast-axis distributions. It is found that the image contrast for a five-bar line/space pattern decreases squarely proportional to the magnitude, whereas the value decreases linearly proportional to the element number. The influence of randomness is understood in relation to image formations through random phase media.
Vector diffraction theory was applied for the calculation of aerial images to explore the polarization effect of illumination light in optical lithography. The Hopkins theory was used for the calculation of partially coherent imaging with a new pupil function defined for each electric field component. Three types of imaging were considered for line/space patterns: (1) the imaging with the 0th, the -1st and the +1st orders of diffracted waves (ordinary imaging), (2) the imaging with the -1st and the +1st orders of diffracted waves (Levenson type phase-shifting), and (3) the imaging with the 0th and either the -1st or the +1st orders of diffracted waves (off-axis illumination). As a result, it was found that the aerial images were remarkably affected by the polarization state in (2) and (3) at high numerical apertures, i.e., the illumination light polarized parallel to the lines and spaces gave much higher image qualities than the illumination polarized perpendicular to the lines and spaces. Their differences were too large to be neglected even when the decrease of the effective numerical aperture in the photoresist was taken into consideration. This fact suggests that it is possible to further improve the resolution of an optical system by controlling the polarization besides using phase-shifting masks or off-axis illumination. The polarization dependence of the image quality was mainly attributed to the behavior of the field component parallel to the optical axis, and its characteristics were qualitatively understood using the transmission cross-coefficient defined for the component.
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