Using resonant soft x-ray scattering to image patterns on undeveloped resists

Guillaume Freychet; Isvar A. Cordova; Terry McAfee; Dinesh Kumar; Ronald J. Pandolfi; Chris Anderson; Patrick Naulleau; Cheng Wang; Alexander Hexemer

doi:10.1117/12.2502769

9 October 2018 Using resonant soft x-ray scattering to image patterns on undeveloped resists

Guillaume Freychet, Isvar A. Cordova, Terry McAfee, Dinesh Kumar, Ronald J. Pandolfi, Chris Anderson, Patrick Naulleau, Cheng Wang, Alexander Hexemer

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10809, International Conference on Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography 2018; 108090V (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2502769
Event: SPIE Photomask Technology + Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography, 2018, Monterey, California, United States

Abstract

Extreme ultraviolet lithography is one of the most promising printing techniques for high volume semiconductor manufacturing at the 14 nm half-pitch device node and beyond. However, key challenges around EUV photoresist materials such as the exposure-dose sensitivity or the line-width roughness continue to impede the full adoption into industrial nanofab facilities. New metrology tools are required to address these challenges by helping to determine the impact of the EUV materials’ properties and processing conditions on the roughness through the different step of the process. Here, we apply the resonant soft x-ray scattering (RSOXS) technique to gain insights into the structure of patterned EUV resists before the development step takes place. By using energies around the carbon absorption edge to take advantage of small differences in chemistry, the electronic density contrast between the exposed and unexposed regions of the resists could be enhanced in order to image the patterns with sub-nm precision. Critical-dimension grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (CDGISAXS) was then performed at energies where the contrast was maximized, enabling the reconstruction of the 3D shape of the latent image. This demonstrates the potential of RSOXS to provide a high-resolution heightsensitive profile of patterned EUV resists, which will help to quantify the evolution of critical features, such as the line edge roughness, at each step of the nanofabrication process.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Guillaume Freychet, Isvar A. Cordova, Terry McAfee, Dinesh Kumar, Ronald J. Pandolfi, Chris Anderson, Patrick Naulleau, Cheng Wang, and Alexander Hexemer "Using resonant soft x-ray scattering to image patterns on undeveloped resists", Proc. SPIE 10809, International Conference on Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography 2018, 108090V (9 October 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2502769

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