Soichi Inoue, Tsuyoshi Amano, Toshiro Itani, Hidehiro Watanabe, Ichiro Mori, Takeo Watanabe, Hiroo Kinoshita, Hiroki Miyai, Masahiro Hatakeyama
Advanced Optical Technologies 1(4) 269-278 2012年9月1日
This paper reports on the current status for the key infrastructures of the extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) for sub-20-nm half pitch (hp) generation. More specifically, the inspection technologies for EUV mask and resist-related technologies will be dedicatedly discussed. First, the actinic blank inspector is strongly required especially for sub-20-nm hp generation. The basic configuration of the prototyping tool will be presented. Second, the basic configuration of the newly developing patterned mask inspector (PMI) consisting of the projection-type optics for the electron beam (EB) will be presented. The primary challenge for the EUV resist is the concurrent improvements of resolution, line width roughness, sensitivity, and outgas. The basic performance of the EUV resist and preliminary validation of the outgas qualification for sub-20-nm hp will be presented.