Higher order feed-forward control of reticle writing error fingerprints

Richard van Haren; Hakki Ergun Cekli; Jan Beltman; Anne Pastol; Frank Sundermann; Maxime Gatefait

doi:10.1117/12.2197556

23 October 2015 Higher order feed-forward control of reticle writing error fingerprints

Richard van Haren, Hakki Ergun Cekli, Jan Beltman, Anne Pastol, Frank Sundermann, Maxime Gatefait

Proceedings Volume 9635, Photomask Technology 2015; 963507 (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2197556
Event: SPIE Photomask Technology, 2015, Monterey, California, United States

Abstract

The understanding and control of the intra-field overlay budget becomes crucial particularly after the introduction of multi-patterning applications. The intra-field overlay budget is built-up out of many contributors, each with its own characteristic. Some of them are (semi-)static like the reticle writing error (RWE) fingerprint, the scanner lens fingerprint, or the intra-field processing signature. Others are more dynamic. Examples are reticle heating and lens heating due to the absorption of a small portion of the exposure light. Ideally, all overlay contributors that are understood and known could be taken out of the feed-back control loop and send as feed-forward corrections to the scanner. As a consequence, only non-correctable overlay residuals are measured on the wafer.

In the current work, we have studied the possibility to characterize the reticle writing error fingerprint by an off-line position measurement tool and use this information to send feed-forward corrections to the ASML TWINSCAN^TM exposure tool. The current work is an extension of the work we published earlier. To this end, we have selected a reticle pair out of 50 production reticles that are used to manufacture a 28-nm technology device. These two reticles are special in the sense that the delta fingerprint contains a significant higher order RWE signature. While previously only the linear parameters were sent as feed-forward corrections to the ASML TWINSCAN^TM exposure tool, this time we additionally demonstrate the capability to correct for the non-linear terms as well. Since the concept heavily relies on the quality of the off-line mask registration measurements, a state-of-the-art reticle registration tool was chosen. Special care was taken to eliminate any effects of the tool induced shifts that may affect the quality of the measurements. The on-wafer overlay verification measurements were performed on an ASML YieldStar metrology tool as well as on a different vendor tool.

In conclusion, we have extended and proven the concept of using off-line reticle registration measurements to enable higher order feed-forward corrections the ASML TWINSCAN^TM scanner. This capability has been verified by on-wafer overlay measurements. It is demonstrated that the RWE contribution in the overlay budget can be taken out of the feedback control loop and sent as feed-forward corrections instead. This concept can easily be extended when more scanner corrections become available.

Citation Download Citation

Richard van Haren, Hakki Ergun Cekli, Jan Beltman, Anne Pastol, Frank Sundermann, and Maxime Gatefait "Higher order feed-forward control of reticle writing error fingerprints", Proc. SPIE 9635, Photomask Technology 2015, 963507 (23 October 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2197556

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