Predictive modeling of advanced illumination pupils used as imaging enhancement for low k1 applications

Tilmann Heil; Paul Graupner; Reiner Garreis; Rafael Egger; Markus Brotsack; Jo Finders; Steve Hansen

doi:10.1117/12.537199

28 May 2004 Predictive modeling of advanced illumination pupils used as imaging enhancement for low-k₁ applications

Tilmann Heil, Paul Graupner, Reiner Garreis, Rafael Egger, Markus Brotsack, Jo Finders, Steve Hansen

Proceedings Volume 5377, Optical Microlithography XVII; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.537199
Event: Microlithography 2004, 2004, Santa Clara, California, United States

Abstract

The specific properties of the illumination system are of increasing importance for the realization of low-k1 applications in modern lithography. In this paper, we present numerical investigations of optical imaging performance using real illuminator pupils in contrast to conventional simulations based on an idealized tophat pupil assumption. We study the impact of non-idealized radial and azimuthal intensity distributions as well as the consequence of local in-homogeneities in the pupil. Furthermore, we discuss the effect of scanning, and details of the numerical implementation. We quantify the imaging impact of the different illumination pupils by computing the through pitch, and through focus behavior of several low-k1 applications. We demonstrate that the tophat assumption often does not provide sufficiently accurate results. In particular, for annular and multi-pole settings, the real radial, and azimuthal intensity distribution have to be taken in to account. Accordingly, we introduce a simple heuristic model describing the real illumination pupil. Using this smooth pupil model, we demonstrate a significantly improved imaging performance prediction accuracy. Local pupil inhomogeneities have a minor impact. For coherent, and conventional settings, finally, we find that a modified tophat assumption gives already sufficiently accurate results, and can be applied for predictive simulations.

Citation Download Citation

Tilmann Heil, Paul Graupner, Reiner Garreis, Rafael Egger, Markus Brotsack, Jo Finders, and Steve Hansen "Predictive modeling of advanced illumination pupils used as imaging enhancement for low-k₁ applications", Proc. SPIE 5377, Optical Microlithography XVII, (28 May 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.537199

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