Atmospheric pressure deep UV lithography using fast chemically amplified photoresists will be the mainstay of semiconductor production into the foreseeable future. Airborne molecular contamination (AMC) in the form of bases and condensable organic and inorganic materials however, threaten both sensitive optics and modern resists thereby creating a host of yield limiting contamination issues. Past work by Kunz at MIT has described photo-induced organic contamination of lithographic optics as a significant concern in leading-edge lithography. Moreover, Kinkead and Ercken, and Kishkovich and Dean have published work on the impact of base contamination on CD uniformity in modern photoresists. Herein, the authors discuss solutions to control both optics and resist contamination in a single compact filter system for advanced lithography. The results of this work suggest that resist and optics contamination can be controlled as we enter the era of low K1 factor <150nm/300mm-device production.

Date Published: 22 August 2001
PDF: 14 pages
Proc. SPIE 4344, Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XV, (22 August 2001); doi: 10.1117/12.436802

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4344:
Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Microlithography XV
Neal T. Sullivan, Editor(s)