Programmed defect masks (PDMs) of a tantalum-based absorber were fabricated by a conventional and improved process that decreased the mask line width roughness (LWR). The improved mask LWR decreased the minimum size of recognizable defects from 18.6 nm to 10.9 nm. The PDMs were printed on wafers and their defect printabilities were compared. The correlation coefficients of the relationship between the mask defect size and deviation of wafer critical dimension (CD) caused by the defects were calculated. A significance test of the correlation coefficients of the PDMs produced by the conventional and improved process indicated there was no significant difference between them. This means that the mask LWR did not have a significant influence on defect printability.

Date Published: 26 March 2019
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 10957, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography X, 109570M (26 March 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2515145

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10957:
Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography X
Kenneth A. Goldberg, Editor(s)