2021/05/20 by Mark van de Kerkhof, van de Kerkhof, Mark, Andrei M. Yakunin +9
Engineering · Materials Science · #Advancements in Photolithography Techniques #Diamond and Carbon-based Materials Research #FOS: Physical sciences #Ion-surface interactions and analysis #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2105.10029
openalex publication_date 2021/05/20 · openalex created_date 2022/07/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In the past years, EUV lithography scanner systems have entered High-Volume\nManufacturing for state-of-the-art Integrated Circuits (IC), with critical\ndimensions down to 10 nm. This technology uses 13.5 nm EUV radiation, which is\nshaped and transmitted through a near-vacuum H2 background gas. This gas is\nexcited into a low-density H2 plasma by the EUV radiation, as generated in\npulsed mode operation by the Laser-Produced Plasma (LPP) in the EUV Source.\nThus, in the confinement created by the walls and mirrors within the scanner\nsystem, a reductive plasma environment is created that must be understood in\ndetail to maximize mirror transmission over lifetime and to minimize molecular\nand particle contamination in the scanner. Besides the irradiated mirrors,\nreticle and wafer, also the plasma and radical load to the surrounding\nconstruction materials must be considered. This paper will provide an overview\nof the EUV-induced plasma in scanner context. Special attention will be given\nto the plasma parameters in a confined geometry, such as may be found in the\nscanner area near the reticle. Also, the translation of these specific plasma\nparameters to off-line setups will be discussed.\n