Paper
28 May 2004 Simulation of the 45-nm half-pitch node with 193-nm immersion lithography
Abani M Biswas, Andrew Frauenglass, Steven R. J. Brueck
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Abstract
The minimum half pitch available to a lithography tool is given by the well-known equation Λmin-half. = λ/4nsinθ, where λ is the exposure wavelength, n is the refractive index of the immersion medium and 2θ is the angle between the propagation directions of the two beams. Using water (n = 1.44) as an immersion medium, the highest spatial frequency available with ArF-based (193 nm) lithography tools with an NA of 1.3 (1.44×0.9) corresponds to a half-pitch of 37 nm suggesting that the 45-nm half-pitch node should be accessible. A detailed simulation study (PRO-LITH 8) is reported for two different approaches to printing for this node. Dipole illumination (with two masks) as well as imaging interferometric lithography (with a single mask and multiple exposures incorporating pupil plane filters) is shown to be capable of printing arbitrary structures under these conditions. Because of the loss of contrast for TM-polarization at the high spatial frequencies at this node the high spatial frequencies in the x- and y-directions need to be printed with different polarizations in order to retain the necessary contrast. This, in turn, will require modification of the illumination system or a multiple exposure approach to allow the necessary polarization control.
© (2004) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Abani M Biswas, Andrew Frauenglass, and Steven R. J. Brueck "Simulation of the 45-nm half-pitch node with 193-nm immersion lithography", Proc. SPIE 5377, Optical Microlithography XVII, (28 May 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.536787
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KEYWORDS
Polarization

Lithographic illumination

Lithography

Photomasks

Spatial frequencies

Interferometry

Image filtering

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