Dr. Craig D. Higgins Profile

Dr. Craig D. Higgins

Research Scientist at KLA Texas

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Publications (18)

Proceedings Article | 10 April 2024 Poster + Paper

Poster + Paper

Hotspot discovery and variability analysis for advanced EUV processes

Kaushik Sah, Zhijin Chen, Yao Zhang, Liming Zhang, Cao Zhang, Craig Higgins, Anatoly Burov, Guy Parsey, Pradeep Vukkadala, Roel Gronheid, Arpit Jain, Ramakanth Ramini, Ankur Agrawal, Garima Sharma, Andrew Cross, Syamashree Roy, Victor Blanco

Proceedings Volume 12955, 129553H (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3011178

KEYWORDS: Stochastic processes, Scanning electron microscopy, Design, Semiconducting wafers, Inspection, Metrology, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Defect inspection

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Proceedings Article | 21 November 2023 Presentation + Paper

Presentation + Paper

Rigorous 3D probabilistic computational lithography and chip-level inspection for EUV stochastic failure detection

Eunju Kim, Wooseok Kim, Jonggwan Lee, Seongjong Kim, Sukyong Lee, Nohong Kwak, Mincheol Kang, Yongchul Jeong, Myungsoo Hwang, Chang-Min Park, Kyoil Koo, Seongtae Jeong, John Biafore, Mark Smith, Trey Graves, Anatoly Burov, Pradeep Vukkadala, Guy Parsey, Cao Zhang, Kunlun Bai, Janez Krek, Craig Higgins, Sergei Bakarian, Kyeongeun Ko, Roel Gronheid, Kaushik Sah, Andrew Cross, Yi Liu, Alessandro Vaglio Pret, Chris Walker, Vikram Tolani, George Hwa, Peter Hu, Chang Song, Alex Arkhipov, Loemba Bouckou, Chi-Ping Liu, Xiaochun Yang, Kana O'Hara, Donghwan Son

Proceedings Volume 12750, 127500C (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2687373

KEYWORDS: Stochastic processes, Inspection, Extreme ultraviolet, Computational lithography, Printing, Semiconducting wafers, Photoresist materials, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Statistical analysis, Physical phenomena

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Proceedings Article | 24 March 2017 Presentation + Paper

Presentation + Paper

Line-edge roughness performance targets for EUV lithography

Timothy Brunner, Xuemei Chen, Allen Gabor, Craig Higgins, Lei Sun, Chris Mack

Proceedings Volume 10143, 101430E (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2258660

KEYWORDS: Line edge roughness, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Extreme ultraviolet, Critical dimension metrology, Stochastic processes, Failure analysis, 193nm lithography, Photons, Logic, Modulation, Line width roughness, Photomasks, Cadmium, Statistical analysis, Image quality

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Proceedings Article | 20 March 2015 Paper

Paper

Process variation challenges and resolution in the negative-tone develop double patterning for 20nm and below technology node

Sohan Mehta, Lakshmi Ganta, Vikrant Chauhan, Yixu Wu, Sunil Singh, Chia Ann, Lokesh Subramany, Craig Higgins, Burcin Erenturk, Ravi Srivastava, Paramjit Singh, Hui Peng Koh, David Cho

Proceedings Volume 9425, 94250B (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2087546

KEYWORDS: Critical dimension metrology, Binary data, Double patterning technology, Etching, Photomasks, Photoresist processing, Nanoimprint lithography, Image processing, Optical lithography, Neodymium

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Immersion based 20nm technology node and below becoming very challenging to chip designers, process and integration due to multiple patterning to integrate one design layer . Negative tone development (NTD) processes have been well accepted by industry experts for enabling technologies 20 nm and below. 193i double patterning is the technology solution for pitch down to 80 nm. This imposes tight control in critical dimension(CD) variation in double patterning where design patterns are decomposed in two different masks such as in litho-etch-litho etch (LELE). CD bimodality has been widely studied in LELE double patterning. A portion of CD tolerance budget is significantly consumed by variations in CD in double patterning.

The objective of this work is to study the process variation challenges and resolution in the Negative Tone Develop Process for 20 nm and Below Technology Node. This paper describes the effect of dose slope on CD variation in negative tone develop LELE process. This effect becomes even more challenging with standalone NTD developer process due to q-time driven CD variation. We studied impact of different stacks with combination of binary and attenuated phase shift mask and estimated dose slope contribution individually from stack and mask type. Mask 3D simulation was carried out to understand theoretical aspect. In order to meet the minimum insulator requirement for the worst case on wafer the overlay and critical dimension uniformity (CDU) budget margins have slimmed. Besides the litho process and tool control using enhanced metrology feedback, the variation control has other dependencies too. Color balancing between the two masks in LELE is helpful in countering effects such as iso-dense bias, and pattern shifting. Dummy insertion and the improved decomposition techniques [2] using multiple lower priority constraints can help to a great extent. Innovative color aware routing techniques [3] can also help with achieving more uniform density and color balanced layouts.

Proceedings Article | 17 April 2014 Paper

Paper

Integration of an EUV metal layer: a 20/14nm demo

Craig Higgins, Erik Verduijn, Xiang Hu, Liang Wang, Mandeep Singh, Jerome Wandell, Sohan Mehta, Jean Raymond Fakhoury, Mark Zaleski, Yi Zou, Hui Peng Koh, Pawitter Mangat

Proceedings Volume 9048, 90481Q (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2048285

KEYWORDS: Photomasks, Extreme ultraviolet, Semiconducting wafers, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Metals, Optical lithography, Optical proximity correction, Overlay metrology, Deep ultraviolet, Inspection

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Proceedings Article | 17 April 2014 Paper

Paper

High speed EUV using post processing and self-aligned double patterning as a speed enhancement technique

Jerome Wandell, Anton deVilliers, Lior Huli, Serge Biesemans, Kathleen Nafus, Mike Carcasi, Jeff Smith, Dave Hetzer, Craig Higgins, Vinayak Rastogi, Erik Verduijn

Proceedings Volume 9048, 90483B (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2048862

KEYWORDS: Extreme ultraviolet, Etching, Double patterning technology, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Atomic layer deposition, Line edge roughness, Line width roughness, Photoresist processing, Lithography, Resist chemistry

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Proceedings Article | 18 March 2014 Paper

Paper

EUV OPC modeling and correction requirements

Tamer Coskun, Tom Wallow, Gek Soon Chua, Keith Standiford, Craig Higgins, Yi Zou

Proceedings Volume 9048, 90480W (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2046341

KEYWORDS: Photomasks, 3D modeling, Optical proximity correction, Data modeling, Extreme ultraviolet, Calibration, Semiconducting wafers, Critical dimension metrology, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Data processing

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Proceedings Article | 1 April 2013 Paper

Paper

Evaluation of methods to improve EUV OPC model accuracy

Tamer Coskun, Chris Clifford, Germain Fenger, Gek Soon Chua, Keith Standiford, Ralph Schlief, Craig Higgins, Yi Zou

Proceedings Volume 8679, 86790V (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2009281

KEYWORDS: Optical proximity correction, Photomasks, Extreme ultraviolet, Calibration, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Deep ultraviolet, Lithography, Metrology, Data modeling, Semiconducting wafers

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Proceedings Article | 29 March 2013 Paper

Paper

Investigation of trench and contact hole shrink mechanism in the negative tone develop process

Sohan Singh Mehta, Craig Higgins, Vikrant Chauhan, Shyam Pal, Hui Peng Koh, Jean Raymond Fakhoury, Shaowen Gao, Lokesh Subramany, Salman Iqbal, Bumhwan Jeon, Pedro Morrison, Chris Karanikas, Yayi Wei, David Cho

Proceedings Volume 8682, 86820O (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2012331

KEYWORDS: Diffusion, Critical dimension metrology, Polymers, Photoresist processing, Image processing, Manufacturing, Lithography, Optical lithography, Data modeling, Modulation

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Proceedings Article | 23 March 2012 Paper

Paper

EUV OPC for the 20-nm node and beyond

Chris Clifford, Yi Zou, Azat Latypov, Oleg Kritsun, Thomas Wallow, Harry Levinson, Fan Jiang, Deniz Civay, Keith Standiford, Ralph Schlief, Lei Sun, Obert Wood, Sudhar Raghunathan, Pawitter Mangat, Hui Peng Koh, Craig Higgins, Jeffrey Schefske, Mandeep Singh

Proceedings Volume 8322, 83221M (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.916171

KEYWORDS: Optical proximity correction, Extreme ultraviolet, Photomasks, Deep ultraviolet, Semiconducting wafers, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Lithography, Critical dimension metrology, Printing, Monte Carlo methods

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Proceedings Article | 14 March 2012 Paper

Paper

Insertion strategy for EUV lithography

Obert Wood, John Arnold, Timothy Brunner, Martin Burkhardt, James H.-C. Chen, Deniz Civay, Susan S.-C. Fan, Emily Gallagher, Scott Halle, Ming He, Craig Higgins, Hirokazu Kato, Jongwook Kye, Chiew-Seng Koay, Guillaume Landie, Pak Leung, Gregory McIntyre, Satoshi Nagai, Karen Petrillo, Sudhar Raghunathan, Ralph Schlief, Lei Sun, Alfred Wagner, Tom Wallow, Yunpeng Yin, Xuelian Zhu, Matthew Colburn, Daniel Corliss, Cecilia Smolinski

Proceedings Volume 8322, 832203 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.916292

KEYWORDS: Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Extreme ultraviolet, Photomasks, Manufacturing, Lithography, Immersion lithography, Optical lithography, Metals, Semiconducting wafers, Overlay metrology

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Proceedings Article | 16 April 2011 Paper

Paper

Revisit pattern collapse for 14nm node and beyond

Kenji Yoshimoto, Craig Higgins, Ananthan Raghunathan, John Hartley, Dario Goldfarb, Hirokazu Kato, Karen Petrillo, Matthew Colburn, Jeffrey Schefske, Obert Wood, Thomas Wallow

Proceedings Volume 7972, 79720K (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.880180

KEYWORDS: Extreme ultraviolet, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Capillaries, Semiconducting wafers, Photoresist processing, Data modeling, Scanning electron microscopy, Glasses, Electron beam lithography, Lithography

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Proceedings Article | 16 April 2011 Paper

Paper

Coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) in EUV lithography: LER and adhesion improvement

Craig Higgins, Charles Settens, Patricia Wolfe, Karen Petrillo, Robert Auger, Richard Matyi, Robert Brainard

Proceedings Volume 7972, 797211 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.879509

KEYWORDS: Line edge roughness, Silicon, Polymers, Lithography, Extreme ultraviolet, Head-mounted displays, Silicon films, Thin films, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Interfaces

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Proceedings Article | 8 April 2011 Paper

Paper

Mass spectrometer characterization of reactions in photoresists exposed to extreme ultraviolet radiation

Chimaobi Mbanaso, Seth Kruger, Craig Higgins, Yashdeep Khopkar, Alin Antohe, Brian Cardineau, Gregory Denbeaux

Proceedings Volume 7969, 79692J (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.879507

KEYWORDS: Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Extreme ultraviolet, Polymers, Photoresist materials, Spectroscopy, Lithography, Polymer thin films, Diffusion, Surface conduction electron emitter displays, Ultraviolet radiation

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Proceedings Article | 1 April 2009 Paper

Paper

Lithographic evaluation and chemical modeling of acid amplifiers used in EUV photoresists

Robert Brainard, Craig Higgins, Seth Kruger, Srividya Revuru, Brian Cardineau, Sarah Gibbons, Dan Freedman, Harun Solak, Wang Yueh, Todd Younkin

Proceedings Volume 7273, 72733Q (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.814308

KEYWORDS: Amplifiers, Line edge roughness, Lithography, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Molecules, Oxygen, Thermal modeling, Thermodynamics, Photoresist materials, Polymers

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Proceedings Article | 18 March 2009 Paper

Paper

RLS tradeoff vs. quantum yield of high PAG EUV resists

Craig Higgins, Alin Antohe, Greg Denbeaux, Seth Kruger, Jacque Georger, Robert Brainard

Proceedings Volume 7271, 727147 (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.814307

KEYWORDS: Quantum efficiency, Extreme ultraviolet, Line edge roughness, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Absorbance, Semiconducting wafers, Absorption, Diffusion, Photons, Photoresist materials

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Proceedings Article | 28 March 2008 Paper

Paper

Film quantum yields of EUV and ultra-high PAG photoresists

Elsayed Hassanein, Craig Higgins, Patrick Naulleau, Richard Matyi, Gregg Gallatin, Gregory Denbeaux, Alin Antohe, Jim Thackeray, Kathleen Spear, Charles Szmanda, Christopher Anderson, Dimitra Niakoula, Matthew Malloy, Anwar Khurshid, Cecilia Montgomery, Emil Piscani, Andrew Rudack, Jeff Byers, Andy Ma, Kim Dean, Robert Brainard

Proceedings Volume 6921, 69211I (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.774099

KEYWORDS: Quantum efficiency, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Photoresist materials, Extreme ultraviolet, X-rays, Absorbance, Photons, Coating, Reflectometry, Line edge roughness

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Proceedings Article | 20 March 2008 Paper

Paper

Evaluation of EUV resist materials for use at the 32 nm half-pitch node

Thomas Wallow, Craig Higgins, Robert Brainard, Karen Petrillo, Warren Montgomery, Chiew-Seng Koay, Greg Denbeaux, Obert Wood, Yayi Wei

Proceedings Volume 6921, 69211F (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.772943

KEYWORDS: Extreme ultraviolet, Optical lithography, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Line edge roughness, Lithography, Interferometers, Photoresist materials, High volume manufacturing, Printing, Image resolution

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Showing 5 of 18 publications

Conference Committee Involvement (6)

Advances in Patterning Materials and Processes XL

27 February 2023 | San Jose, California, United States

Advances in Patterning Materials and Processes XXXIX

25 April 2022 | San Jose, California, United States

Advances in Patterning Materials and Processes XXXVIII

22 February 2021 | Online Only, California, United States

Advances in Patterning Materials and Processes XXXVII

24 February 2020 | San Jose, California, United States

Advances in Patterning Materials and Processes XXXVI

25 February 2019 | San Jose, California, United States

Showing 5 of 6 Conference Committees

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