Mr. Michael A. Carcasi Profile

Michael A. Carcasi

Manager, Research Science at Tokyo Electron America Inc

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Publications (23)

Proceedings Article | 9 April 2024 Presentation + Paper

Advanced processes in metal-oxide resists for high-NA EUV lithography

Cong Que Dinh, Seiji Nagahara, Kayoko Cho, Hikari Tomori, Yuhei Kuwahara, Tomoya Onitsuka, Soichiro Okada, Shinichiro Kawakami, Arisa Hara, Seiji Fujimoto, Makoto Muramatsu, Reiko Tsuzuki, Xiang Liu, Arame Thiam, Yannick Feurprier, Kathleen Nafus, Michael Carcasi, Lior Huli, Kanzo Kato, Alexandra Krawicz, Michael Kocsis, Peter De Schepper, Lauren McQuade, Kazuki Kasahara, Jara Garcia Santaclara, Rik Hoefnagels, Bruno La Fontaine, Ryan Miyakawa, Chris Anderson, Patrick Naulleau

Proceedings Volume 12957, 1295705 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3010207

KEYWORDS: Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Extreme ultraviolet, Inspection, Tin, Lithography, Etching

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One of the key steps in the pattern formation chain of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is the development process to resolve the resist pattern after EUV exposure. The traditional development process might be insufficient to achieve the requirements of ultra-high-resolution features with low defect levels. The aim of this paper is to establish a process to achieve a good roughness, a low defectivity at a low EUV dose, and capability for extremely-high-resolution for high numerical aperture (NA) and hyper-NA EUV lithography. A new development method named ESPERT™ (Enhanced Sensitivity develoPER Technology™) has been introduced to improve the performance of metal oxide-resists (MOR). ESPERT™ as a chemical super resolution technique effectively apodized the MOR chemical image, improving chemical gradient (higher exposure latitude (EL)) and reducing scums (fewer bridge defects). This new development method can also keep the resist profile vertical to mitigate the break defects. The performances of the conventional development and ESPERT™ were evaluated and compared using 0.33 NA EUV, 0.5 NA EUV, and electron beam (EB) exposures, for all line-space (LS), contact hole (CH), and pillar (PL) patterns. Using 0.33 NA EUV scanners on LS patterns, both bridge and break defects were confirmed to be reduced for all 32-nm-pitch, 28-nm-pitch, 26-nm-pitch LS patterns while reducing the EUV dose to size (DtS). In the electrical yield (1 meter length) test of breaks/bridges of 26-nm pitch structures, ESPERT™ reduced EUV dose while its combo yield was almost 100% over a wide dose range of 20mJ/cm². For CH patterns, in the case of 32-nm-pitch AEI (after etch inspection), EL was increased 7.5% up to 22.5%, while failure free latitude (FFL) was widened from 1-nm to 4-nm. A 16-nm-pitch LS pattern was successfully printed with 0.5 NA tool, while a 16-nm-pitch PL and an 18-nm-pitch CH patterns were also achieved with an EB lithography by ESPERT™. With ESPERT™, there was no pillar collapse observed for 12-nm half-pitch PL by 0.5 NA and 8-nm half-pitch PL by EB. With all the advantages of having a high exposure sensitivity, a low defectivity, and an extremely-high-resolution capability, this advanced development method is expected be a solution for high-NA EUV towards hyper-NA EUV lithography.

Proceedings Article | 1 May 2023 Paper

Advanced development methods for high-NA EUV lithography

Cong Que Dinh, Seiji Nagahara, Yuhei Kuwahara, Arnaud Dauendorffer, Soichiro Okada, Seiji Fujimoto, Shinichiro Kawakami, Satoru Shimura, Makoto Muramatsu, Kayoko Cho, Xiang Liu, Kathleen Nafus, Michael Carcasi, Ankur Agarwal, Mark Somervell, Lior Huli, Kanzo Kato, Michael Kocsis, Peter De Schepper, Stephen Meyers, Lauren McQuade, Kazuki Kasahara, Jara Garcia Santaclara, Rik Hoefnagels, Chris Anderson, Patrick Naulleau

Proceedings Volume 12498, 1249806 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2655928

KEYWORDS: Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Extreme ultraviolet, Line width roughness, Line edge roughness, Lithography, Etching

Read Abstract +

One of the key steps in the pattern formation chain of (extreme ultraviolet) EUV lithography is the development process to resolve the resist pattern after EUV exposure. A simple traditional development process might not be sufficient to achieve the requirements of an ultra-high-resolution feature with low defect levels in high numerical aperture (NA) EUV lithography. In our previous literature, a new development method named ESPERT^TM (Enhanced Sensitivity develoPER Technology^TM) has been introduced to improve the performance of metal oxide resists (MOR) for 0.33 NA EUV lithography by breaking the dose-roughness trade-off. In this work, this development technique was optimised for high-NA lithography to not only keep the advantages of previous ESPERT^TM version, but also reduce the defect levels at a higher EUV sensitivity. This is made possible thanks to the capability of the new version of ESPERT^TM that can easily remove the residue (undeveloped resist) at low exposure dose area to enhance the developing contrast. Using 0.33 NA EUV scanners at imec on 16-nm half-pitch (HP) line/space (L/S) patterns, with the new development method, EUV dose-to-size (DtS) was reduced roughly 16%, and total after-development-inspection (ADI) defects was reduced by a factor of approximately 7, simultaneously. In another condition, DtS was reduced from 44.2 to 28.4 mJ/cm² (an improvement of 36%), while the number of after-etch-inspection (AEI) single-bridge defects was reduced by half, simultaneously. Using the 0.5 NA exposure tool at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with this new development method, the exposure sensitivity and line-width-roughness (LWR) were both improved by 30% and 21%, respectively. An 8-nm-HP L/S pattern was also successfully printed by this high NA tool. Using a 150 kV electron-beam (EB) lithography system, a 12-nm-HP of pillars was successfully printed on a 22-nm-thick MOR resist with ESPERT^TM. With all the advantages of having a high exposure sensitivity, a low defectivity, and an ultra-high-resolution capability, this new development method is expected to be a solution for high-NA EUV lithography.

Proceedings Article | 22 February 2021 Presentation + Paper

Nano-scale effects of selective spin-on deposition

Ryan Burns, Yuanyi Zhang, Colton D'Ambra, Mark Somervell, Sean Berglund, Michael Carcasi, Lior Huli, Muramatsu Makoto, Rachel Segalman, Craig Hawker, Christopher Bates

Proceedings Volume 11612, 1161205 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2583086

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Proceedings Article | 8 April 2019 Paper

PSCAR optimization to reduce EUV resist roughness with sensitization using Resist Formulation Optimizer (RFO)

Seiji Nagahara, Cong Que Dinh, Gosuke Shiraishi, Yuya Kamei, Kathleen Nafus, Yoshihiro Kondo, Michael Carcasi, Yukie Minekawa, Hiroyuki Ide, Yuichi Yoshida, Kosuke Yoshihara, Ryo Shimada, Masaru Tomono, Kazuhiro Takeshita, Serge Biesemans, Hideo Nakashima, Danilo De Simone, John Petersen, Philippe Foubert, Peter De Bisschop, Geert Vandenberghe, Hans-Jürgen Stock, Balint Meliorisz

Proceedings Volume 10960, 109600A (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2515187

KEYWORDS: Stochastic processes, Calibration, Extreme ultraviolet, Line edge roughness, 3D modeling, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Switching

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Proceedings Article | 26 March 2019 Paper

Calibrated PSCAR stochastic simulation

Cong Que Dinh, Seiji Nagahara, Gousuke Shiraishi, Yukie Minekawa, Yuya Kamei, Michael Carcasi, Hiroyuki Ide, Yoshihiro Kondo, Yuichi Yoshida, Kosuke Yoshihara, Ryo Shimada, Masaru Tomono, Teruhiko Moriya, Kazuhiro Takeshita, Kathleen Nafus, Serge Biesemans, John Petersen, Danilo De Simone, Philippe Foubert, Peter De Bisschop, Geert Vandenberghe, Hans-Jürgen Stock, Balint Meliorisz

Proceedings Volume 10957, 109571O (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2515183

KEYWORDS: Modeling and simulation, Calibration, Ultraviolet radiation, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Stochastic processes, Data modeling, Line width roughness, Extreme ultraviolet, Scanning electron microscopy

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Proceedings Article | 27 March 2018 Presentation + Paper

EUV resist sensitization and roughness improvement by PSCAR with in-line UV flood exposure system

Seiji Nagahara, Michael Carcasi, Gosuke Shiraishi, Yuya Kamei, Kathleen Nafus, Yukie Minekawa, Hiroyuki Ide, Yoshihiro Kondo, Takahiro Shiozawa, Keisuke Yoshida, Masashi Enomoto, Kosuke Yoshihara, Hideo Nakashima, Serge Biesemans, Ryo Shimada, Masaru Tomono, Kazuhiro Takeshita, Teruhiko Moriya, Hayakawa Makoto, Ryo Aizawa, Yoshitaka Konishi, Masafumi Hori, Ken Maruyama, Hisashi Nakagawa, Masayuki Miyake, Tomoki Nagai, Satoshi Dei, Takehiko Naruoka, Motoyuki Shima, Toru Kimura, Geert Vandenberghe, John Petersen, Danilo De Simone, Foubert Philippe, Hans-Jürgen Stock, Balint Meliorisz, Akihiro Oshima, Seiichi Tagawa

Proceedings Volume 10586, 1058606 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2297498

KEYWORDS: Ultraviolet radiation, Floods, Picosecond phenomena, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Calibration, Extreme ultraviolet, Chemically amplified resists, Polymers, Image enhancement, Absorption

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Proceedings Article | 27 March 2018 Presentation + Paper

Constructing a robust PSCAR process for EUV

Michael Carcasi, Seiji Nagahara, Gosuke Shiraishi, Yukie Minekawa, Hiroyuki Ide, Yoshihiro Kondo, Kosuke Yoshihara, Masaru Tomono, Ryo Shimada, Kazuhiro Takeshita, Teruhiko Moriya, Yuya Kamei, Kathleen Nafus, Serge Biesemans, Hideo Nakashima, Masafumi Hori, Ken Maruyama, Hisashi Nakagawa, Tomoki Nagai, Satoshi Dei, Masayuki Miyake, Takehiko Naruoka, Motoyuki Shima, Geert Vandenberghe, Danilo De Simone, Philippe Foubert, John Petersen, Akihiro Oshima, Seiichi Tagawa

Proceedings Volume 10583, 105831M (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2297370

KEYWORDS: Ultraviolet radiation, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Extreme ultraviolet, Absorbance, Optical lithography, Absorption, Line edge roughness, Picosecond phenomena, Chemically amplified resists, Image processing

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Proceedings Article | 27 March 2017 Presentation + Paper

Photosensitized Chemically Amplified Resist (PSCAR) 2.0 for high-throughput and high-resolution EUV lithography: dual photosensitization of acid generation and quencher decomposition by flood exposure

Seiji Nagahara, Michael Carcasi, Gosuke Shiraishi, Hisashi Nakagawa, Satoshi Dei, Takahiro Shiozawa, Kathleen Nafus, Danilo De Simone, Geert Vandenberghe, Hans-Jürgen Stock, Bernd Küchler, Masafumi Hori, Takehiko Naruoka, Tomoki Nagai, Yukie Minekawa, Tomohiro Iseki, Yoshihiro Kondo, Kosuke Yoshihara, Yuya Kamei, Masaru Tomono, Ryo Shimada, Serge Biesemans, Hideo Nakashima, Philippe Foubert, Elizabeth Buitrago, Michaela Vockenhuber, Yasin Ekinci, Akihiro Oshima, Seiichi Tagawa

Proceedings Volume 10146, 101460G (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2258217

KEYWORDS: Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Chemically amplified resists, Floods, Lithography, Extreme ultraviolet, Line edge roughness, Image processing, Image enhancement, Ultraviolet radiation, Scanners, Picosecond phenomena, Polymers, Line width roughness, Stochastic processes

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Proceedings Article | 27 March 2017 Paper

Simulation and experimentation of PSCAR chemistry for complex structures

Michael Carcasi, Seiji Nagahara, Gosuke Shiraishi, Tomohiro Iseki, Yukie Minekawa, Kosuke Yoshihara, Hisashi Nakagawa, Takehiko Naruoka, Tomoki Nagai, Akihiro Oshima, Seiichi Tagawa

Proceedings Volume 10143, 1014329 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2258166

KEYWORDS: Chemistry, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Extreme ultraviolet, Line edge roughness, Lithography, Chemically amplified resists, Industrial chemicals, Floods, Light sources, Polymers, Picosecond phenomena, Ultraviolet radiation, Chemical reactions, Absorption

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Proceedings Article | 22 March 2016 Paper

Challenge toward breakage of RLS trade-off for EUV lithography by Photosensitized Chemically Amplified Resist (PSCAR) with flood exposure

Seiji Nagahara, Michael Carcasi, Hisashi Nakagawa, Elizabeth Buitrago, Oktay Yildirim, Gosuke Shiraishi, Yuichi Terashita, Yukie Minekawa, Kosuke Yoshihara, Masaru Tomono, Hironori Mizoguchi, Joel Estrella, Tomoki Nagai, Takehiko Naruoka, Satoshi Dei, Masafumi Hori, Akihiro Oshima, Michaela Vockenhuber, Yasin Ekinci, Marieke Meeuwissen, Coen Verspaget, Rik Hoefnagels, Gijsbert Rispens, Raymond Maas, Hideo Nakashima, Seiichi Tagawa

Proceedings Volume 9776, 977607 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2219433

KEYWORDS: Floods, Picosecond phenomena, Extreme ultraviolet, Ultraviolet radiation, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Line edge roughness, Polymers, Absorption, Line width roughness, Image processing

Read Abstract +

This paper proposes a promising approach to break the resolution (R), line-edge-roughness (LER), and sensitivity (S) trade-off (RLS trade-off) relationships that limit the ultimate lithographic performance of standard chemically amplified resists (CAR). This is accomplished in a process that uses a Photosensitized Chemically Amplified Resist (PSCAR) in combination with a flood-exposure in an in-line track connected to a pattern exposure tool. PSCAR is a modified CAR which contains a photosensitizer precursor (PP) in addition to other standard CAR components such as a protected polymer, a photo acid generator (PAG) and a quencher. In this paper, the PSCAR concept and the required conditions in resist formulation are carefully explained. In the PSCAR process, the sensitivity improvement is accomplished by PAG decomposition to selectively generate more acid at the pattern exposed areas during the flood exposure. The selective photosensitization happens through the excitation of the photosensitizer (PS) generated by the deprotection of the PP at the pattern exposed areas. A higher resist chemical gradient which leads to an improved resolution and lower LER values is also predicted using the PSCAR simulator. In the PSCAR process, the improved chemical gradient can be realized by dual acid quenching steps with the help of increased quencher concentration. Acid quenching first happens simultaneously with acid catalytic PP to PS reactions. As a result, a sharpened PS latent image is created in the PSCAR. This image is subsequently excited by the flood exposure creating additional acid products at the pattern exposed areas only. Much the same as in the standard CAR system, unnecessary acid present in the non-pattern exposed areas can be neutralized by the remaining quencher to therefore produce sharper acid latent images. EUV exposure results down to 15 nm half pitch (HP) line/space (L/S) patterns using a PSCAR resist indicate that the use of PSCAR has the potential to improve the sensitivity of the system while simultaneously improving the line-width-roughness (LWR) with added quencher and flood exposure doses. In addition, improved across-wafer critical dimension uniformity (CDU) is realized by the use of a PSCAR in combination with a flood exposure using pre α UV exposure module.

Proceedings Article | 17 April 2014 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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SPIE Journal Paper | 12 March 2014

Mesoscale modeling: a study of particle generation and line-edge roughness

Siddharth Chauhan, Mark Somervell, Michael Carcasi, Steven Scheer, Roger Bonnecaze, Chris Mack, C. Grant Willson

JM3, Vol. 13, Issue 01, 013012, (March 2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JMM.13.1.013012

KEYWORDS: Particles, Polymers, Line edge roughness, Monte Carlo methods, Diffusion, Photoresist developing, Photoresist materials, Lithography, 3D modeling, Molecules

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Proceedings Article | 19 March 2012 Paper

Line-pattern collapse mitigation status for EUV at 32nm HP and below

Michael Carcasi, Derek Bassett, Wallace Printz, Shinichiro Kawakami, Yuichiro Miyata

Proceedings Volume 8325, 83250K (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.916310

KEYWORDS: Extreme ultraviolet, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Finite element methods, Capillaries, Polymers, Line width roughness, Neodymium, Polymer thin films, Protactinium, Semiconducting wafers

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Proceedings Article | 31 March 2010 Paper

Extension of 248 nm Monte Carlo, mesoscale models to 193 nm platforms

Michael Carcasi, Mark Somervell, Steven Scheer, Siddharth Chauhan, Jeffrey Strahan, C. Willson

Proceedings Volume 7639, 76392K (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.846658

KEYWORDS: Systems modeling, Line edge roughness, Polymers, Diffusion, Calibration, Data modeling, Monte Carlo methods, Lithography, Molecular interactions, Stochastic processes

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Proceedings Article | 30 March 2010 Paper

The optimizations of resist shrink process using track-based technology

Yoshihiro Kondo, Atsushi Ookouchi, Toyohisa Tsuruda, Masahiro Yamamoto, Takasi Saito, Tsuyoshi Shibata, Satoru Shimura, Fumiko Iwao, Ben Rathsack, Michael Carcasi

Proceedings Volume 7639, 76390X (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.846497

KEYWORDS: Photoresist processing, Line width roughness, Etching, Semiconducting wafers, Double patterning technology, Diffusion, Image processing, Thin film coatings, Critical dimension metrology, Particles

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Proceedings Article | 26 March 2010 Paper

Particle generation during photoresist dissolution

Siddharth Chauhan, Mark Somervell, Michael Carcasi, Steven Scheer, Roger Bonnecaze, Chris Mack, C. Grant Willson

Proceedings Volume 7639, 763933 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.848424

KEYWORDS: Particles, Polymers, Monte Carlo methods, Photoresist materials, Photoresist developing, Lithography, Molecules, Diffusion, 3D modeling, Line edge roughness

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Proceedings Article | 1 April 2009 Paper

Process-induced bias: a study of resist design, device node, illumination conditions, and process implications

Michael Carcasi, Steven Scheer, Carlos Fonseca, Tsuyoshi Shibata, Hitoshi Kosugi, Yoshihiro Kondo, Takashi Saito

Proceedings Volume 7273, 72730N (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.814395

KEYWORDS: Diffusion, Photoresist processing, Fiber optic illuminators, Semiconducting wafers, Nanoimprint lithography, Optical proximity correction, Critical dimension metrology, Error analysis, Resist chemistry, Etching

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Proceedings Article | 4 April 2008 Paper

Process-induced bias: a study of resist design and process implications

Carlos Fonseca, Steven Scheer, Michael Carcasi, Tsuyoshi Shibata, Takahisa Otsuka

Proceedings Volume 6923, 692327 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.773187

KEYWORDS: Diffusion, Semiconducting wafers, Critical dimension metrology, Photoresist processing, Temperature metrology, Scanners, Calibration, Etching, Logic, Optical proximity correction

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Proceedings Article | 26 March 2008 Paper

Fabrication of 32-nm contact/via hole by photolithographic-friendly method

Tetsu Kawasaki, Satoru Shimura, Fumiko Iwao, Eiichi Nishimura, Masato Kushibiki, Kazuhide Hasebe, Michael Carcasi, Mark Somervell, Steven Scheer, Hidetami Yaegashi

Proceedings Volume 6923, 692333 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.771907

KEYWORDS: Reactive ion etching, Chemical vapor deposition, Semiconductors, Lithography, Immersion lithography, Etching, 193nm lithography, Photoresist processing, Photoresist materials, Double patterning technology

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Proceedings Article | 27 March 2007 Paper

CDU minimization at the 45-nm node and beyond: optical, resist, and process contributions to CD control

Steven Scheer, Mike Carcasi, Tsuyoshi Shibata, Takahisa Otsuka

Proceedings Volume 6520, 65204H (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.711822

KEYWORDS: Critical dimension metrology, Monte Carlo methods, Semiconducting wafers, Photoresist processing, Lithography, Temperature metrology, Etching, Scanners, Process control, Reticles

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Proceedings Article | 22 March 2007 Paper

Behavior and effects of water penetration in 193-nm immersion lithography process materials

Takafumi Niwa, Steven Scheer, Mike Carcasi, Masashi Enomoto, Tadatoshi Tomita, Kouichi Hontake, Hideharu Kyoda, Junichi Kitano

Proceedings Volume 6519, 651922 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.711359

KEYWORDS: Thin film coatings, Digital watermarking, Water, Semiconducting wafers, Lithography, Immersion lithography, Temperature metrology, Scanning electron microscopy, Diffusion, Bridges

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The development of next-generation exposure equipment in the field of lithography is now underway as the demand increases for faster and more highly integrated semiconductor devices. At the same time, proposals are being made for lithography processes that can achieve finer pattern dimensions while using existing state-of-the-art ArF exposure equipment. Immersion exposure technology can use a high-refraction lens by filling the space between the exposed substrate and the projection lens of the exposure equipment with a liquid having a high refractive index. At present, the development of 193-nm immersion exposure technology is proceeding at a rapid pace and approaching the realm of mass production. However, the immersion of resist film in de-ionized water in 193-nm immersion exposure technology raises several concerns, the most worrisome being the penetration of moisture into the resist film, the leaching of resist components into the water, and the formation of residual moisture affecting post-processing. To mitigate the effects of directly immersing resist in de-ionized water, the adoption of a top coat is considered to be beneficial, but the possibility is high that the same concerns will rise even with a top coat. It has been reported that immersion-specific defects in 193-nm immersion exposure lithography include "slimming," "large bridge," "swell," "micro-bridge," and "line pitch expansion," while defects generated by dry lithography can be summarized as "residue," "substrate induced," "discoloration," and "pattern collapse." Nevertheless, there are still many unexplained areas on the adverse effects of water seeping into a top coat or resist. It is vitally important that the mechanisms behind this water penetration be understood to reduce the occurrence of these immersion-induced defects. In this paper, we use top coats and resist materials used in immersion lithography to analyze the penetration and diffusion of water. It is found that the water-blocking performance of protective-film materials used in immersion lithography may not be sufficient at the molecular level. We discuss the diffusion of water in a top coat and its effects.

Proceedings Article | 29 March 2006 Paper

Topside anti-reflective coating process and productivity improvements on KrF lithography

Terri Couteau, Michael Carcasi

Proceedings Volume 6153, 61533H (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.656321

KEYWORDS: Digital filtering, Antireflective coatings, Semiconducting wafers, Lithography, Manufacturing, Reflectivity, Industrial chemicals, Optical lithography, Interfaces, Photoresist processing

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Proceedings Article | 29 March 2006 Paper

Defectivity reduction by optimization of 193-nm immersion lithography using an interfaced exposure-track system

Michael Carcasi, Shinichi Hatakeyama, Kathleen Nafus, Richard Moerman, Youri van Dommelen, Peter Huisman, Joshua Hooge, Steven Scheer, Philippe Foubert

Proceedings Volume 6153, 61533J (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.656444

KEYWORDS: Photoresist processing, Thin film coatings, Immersion lithography, Scanners, Lithography, Binary data, Standards development, Contamination, Image processing, 193nm lithography

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As the integration of semiconductor devices continues, pattern sizes required in lithography get smaller and smaller. To achieve even more scaling down of these patterns without changing the basic infrastructure technology of current cutting-edge 193-nm lithography, 193-nm immersion lithography is being viewed as a powerful technique that can accommodate next-generation mass productions needs. Therefore this technology has been seriously considered and after proof of concept it is currently entering the stage of practical application. In the case of 193-nm immersion lithography, however, because liquid fills the area between the projection optics and the silicon wafer, several causes of concern have been raised - namely, diffusion of moisture into the resist film due to direct resist-water interaction during exposure, dissolution of internal components of the resist into the de-ionized water, and the influence of residual moisture generated during exposure on post-exposure processing. To prevent these unwanted effects, optimization of the three main components of the lithography system: materials, track and scanner, is required. For the materials, 193nm resist formulation improvements specifically for immersion processing have reduced the leaching and the sensitivity to water related defects, further benefits can be seen by the application of protective top coat materials. For the track component, optimization of the processing conditions and immersion specific modules are proven to advance the progress made by the material suppliers. Finally, by optimizing conditions on the 3^rd generation immersion scanner with the latest hardware configuration, defectivity levels comparable to dry processing can be achieved. In this evaluation, we detail the improvements that can be realized with new immersion specific track rinse modules and formulate a hypothesis for the improvements seen with the rinsing process. Additionally, we show the current status of water induced immersion specific defect reduction using the latest advances in technology.

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