Polarization effects associated with hyper-numerical aperture (NA>1) lithography

Donis G. Flagello

doi:10.1117/12.582635

27 January 2005 Polarization effects associated with hyper-numerical aperture (NA>1) lithography

Donis G. Flagello

Proceedings Volume 5645, Advanced Microlithography Technologies; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.582635
Event: Photonics Asia, 2004, Beijing, China

Abstract

The use of immersion technology will extend the lifetime of 193nm and 157nm lithography by enabling numerical apertures (NA) much greater than 1.0. The ultimate limits of NA are explored by analysis of polarization effects at the reticle and imaging effects at the wafer. The effect of Hertzian or micro-polarization due to the size of the reticle structures is examined through rigorous simulation. For the regime of interest, 20nm to 50nm imaging, it is found that dense features on a Cr binary reticle will polarize the light into the TE component upwards of 15%. Below this regime, the light becomes polarized in the TM direction. The use of polarization in the illuminator for imaging will result in substantial gains in exposure latitude and MEF when the NA~1.3 with 45nm lines at 193nm. The end-of-line pullback for 2-dimensional patterns is reduced by the use of TE polarization in the illuminator. The overall polarization effects increase with decreasing k₁. The interaction between the reticle induced polarization and the illumination polarization is shown to be significant when an analysis is done using rigorous mask simulation instead of the more common Kirchhoff approximation.

Citation Download Citation

Donis G. Flagello "Polarization effects associated with hyper-numerical aperture (NA>1) lithography", Proc. SPIE 5645, Advanced Microlithography Technologies, (27 January 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.582635

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available