High-accuracy optical proximity correction modeling using advanced critical dimension scanning electron microscope-based contours in next-generation lithography

Daisuke Hibino; Hiroyuki Shindo; Yuichi Abe; Yutaka Hojyo; Germain L. Fenger; Thuy Do; Ir Kusnadi; John L. Sturtevant; Jeroen Van de Kerkhove; Peter De Bisschop

doi:10.1117/1.3530082

1 January 2011 High-accuracy optical proximity correction modeling using advanced critical dimension scanning electron microscope-based contours in next-generation lithography

Daisuke Hibino, Hiroyuki Shindo, Yuichi Abe, Yutaka Hojyo, Germain L. Fenger, Thuy Do, Ir Kusnadi, John L. Sturtevant, Jeroen Van de Kerkhove, Peter De Bisschop

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS, Vol. 10, Issue 1, 013012 (January 2011). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3530082

Abstract

Optical proximity correction (OPC) modeling is traditionally based on critical dimension (CD) measurements. As design rules shrink and process windows become smaller, there is an unavoidable increase in the complexity of OPC resolution enhancement technique (RET) schemes required to enable design printability. The number of measurement points for OPC modeling has increased to several hundred points per layer, and metrology requirements are no longer limited to simple 1-D measurements. Contour-based OPC modeling has recently arisen as an alternative to the conventional CD-based method. In this work, the technology of contour alignment and averaging is extended to arbitrary 2-D structures. Furthermore, the quality of scanning electron microscope (SEM) contours is significantly improved in cases where the image has both horizontal and vertical edges (as is the case for most 2-D structures) by a new SEM image method, which we call fine SEM edge (FSE). OPC model calibration is done using SEM contours from 2-D structures. Then, the effectiveness of contour-based calibration is examined by doing model verification. The experimental results of the model quality with innovative SEM contours that was developed by Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Ibaraki-ken, Japan) are reported. This combination of advanced alignment and averaging, and FSE technologies, makes the best use of the advantage of contour-based OPC-modeling, and should be of use for next-generation lithography.

©(2011) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

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Daisuke Hibino, Hiroyuki Shindo, Yuichi Abe, Yutaka Hojyo, Germain L. Fenger, Thuy Do, Ir Kusnadi, John L. Sturtevant, Jeroen Van de Kerkhove, and Peter De Bisschop "High-accuracy optical proximity correction modeling using advanced critical dimension scanning electron microscope-based contours in next-generation lithography," Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS 10(1), 013012 (1 January 2011). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3530082

Published: 1 January 2011

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