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Study of novel EUVL mask absorber candidates
Abstract
Novel mask absorber designs are catching the attention of the EUVL community due to their ability to mitigate mask 3D effects. Material selection is part of such an optimization. We propose several candidates as novel EUV lithography mask absorbers, namely TaTeN, Ru–Ta, and Pt–Mo alloys. The choice of these materials is based on their theoretical performance evaluated by EUV imaging simulation based on their complex refractive index N ( λ ) = n ( λ ) + ik ( λ ) , where the optical constants n and k relate to the phase velocity and the absorption of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength λ, respectively. The materials are deposited as thin films on Si substrate with an additional Ru layer to mimic the cap of the multilayer mirror on the real mask. The experimental n and k values are determined by analyzing EUV reflectivity data obtained using a 13.5-nm synchrotron EUV radiation. The imaging simulation presented consists of calculating several imaging metrics including non-telecentricity, normalized image log-slope, and threshold-to-size for specific use cases using the novel absorber. It also compares the proposed materials with the reference TaBN absorber. TaTeN shows higher absorption than TaBN and refraction closer to 1, which improves phase matching for a high k absorber. The refractive index of Ru–Ta and Pt–Mo alloys exhibits a large difference from that of air and provides the required phase shift of attenuated phase shift masks. The characterizations of these mater…
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There is no foreseeable move to an even smaller wavelength beyond EUV (BEUV) owing to technical, economic and logistical hurdles, although it has been proposed and cannot be excluded as a long-term solution.
“There is no foreseeable move to an even small er wavelength beyond EUV (BEUV) owing to several technical, economic and logistical hurdles, although it has been proposed 107 and cannot be excluded as a long-term, nextgeneration solution.”
From Extreme ultraviolet lithography (2024) · cites this paper as [107]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Wu, M., Thakare, D., de Marneffe, J.-F., Jaenen, P., Souriau, L., Opsomer, K., Soulié, J.-P., Erdmann, A., Mesilhy, H. M. S., Naujok, P., Foltin, M., Soltwisch, V., Saadeh, Q., & Philipsen, V.
- Affiliations
- IMEC (BE)
- Ghent University (BE)
- Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology (DE)
- optiX fab GmbH
- SUSS MicroTec (Germany) (DE)
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (DE)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Micro/Nanopatterning, Materials, and Metrology
- Publisher
- SPIE-Intl Soc Optical Eng
- Published
- 2021-05-03
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 02
- Pages
- 1-13
- ISSN
- 2708-8340 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3159878262
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 3
- FWCI
- 1.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Micro/Nanopatterning Materials and Metrology (publishedVersion)
- Publikationsdatenbank der Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) (submittedVersion)
- HZB Repository (Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB)) (submittedVersion)
- Fraunhofer-Publica (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Advancements in Photolithography Techniques
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Radiation › Advanced X-ray Imaging Techniques
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Surfaces, Coatings and Films › Optical Coatings and Gratings
- Keywords
- EUV lithography, complex refractive index, attenuated phase shift mask, mask 3D effects, EUV reflectivity, reactive ion etching, etch selectivity
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