Layout design and lithography technology for advanced. Resolution translator disclaimer you have requested a machine translation of selected content from our databases. Chapter 1 introducing optical lithography lithography creates a resist image on the wafer. Double patterning and hypernumerical aperture immersion. Pdf optical immersion lithography utilizes liquids with refractive indices 1 the index of air below the last lens element to enhance numerical. Hence, the thin film material on the wafer is selectively. In other words, for a given feature being printed and a given numerical aperture, immersion lithography will provide a greater depth of focus dof.
Optical lithographypresent and future challenges emconsulte. It is, by far, one of the most demanding applications of classical optical design and fabrication today. Any serious student interested in a career in the semiconductor industry or lithography should consider this book as. Variations in surface heights of a processed wafer must be less than the optical depth of focus. During the course of the last 1520 years, the practical limits of optical lithography have been extended by four major advances. Microlithography, optical lithography, immersion lithography. I have been subjecting students in my graduatelevel lithography course at the university of texas at austin to my disorganized notes for 14. The ability to resolve features in optical lithography is directly related to the numerical aperture of the. Immersion lithography the immersion technique was first introduced by carl zeiss in the 1880s to increase the resolving power of the optical microscope it attracted the ic industrys attention in 2002 when other types of lithography was delayed by several technical problems the introduction of water into the gap between the final lens and wafer. The optical lithography system is regarded as an information channel, an approximate statistical.
It uses light to transfer a geometric pattern from a photomask also called an optical mask to a photosensitive that is, lightsensitive chemical photoresist on the substrate. Lithography optical bulb stepper optical laser stepper. Photolithography, also called optical lithography or uv lithography, is a process used in microfabrication to pattern parts on a thin film or the bulk of a substrate also called a wafer. The optical lithography community is quickly gaining confidence that immersion technology can further reduce critical dimensions based on theoretical models and high an gle interference lithography techniques. Sentaurus lithography slitho represents the industry standard in lithography. Optical lithography is extensively used in micro and nano scale semiconductor fabrication. Among these, the two that attracted the most interest. However, opc algorithms are getting more aggressive. Immersion interference lithography was used to pattern gratings with 22nm half pitch. Home ebooks field guide to optical lithography immersion lithography. Immersion lithography offers an attractive alternative to 157nm and euv lithography. We have invested 25 years in learning about projection optics, optical resists, and optical masks. Optical performance of laser light source for arf immersion.
Optical immersion lithography utilizes liquids with refractive indices 1 the index of air below the last lens element to enhance numerical aperture and resolution, enabling sub40nm feature. Covers material required for a full semester course on optical lithography with principles, methods and future developments. Thus, for high resolution lithography the surface must be planar flat. The fundamental limit of optical lithography is not determined by the optical system alone but rather is an overall contributions from the. Field guide to optical lithography the material in this field guide to optical lithography is a distillation of material i have been putting together for the last 20 years or so.
Although optical lithography has been the mainstay of semicon. The remainder of the chapter will then be concerned with what other opportunities there might be to extend optical lithography. Photolithography or optical lithography is a microfabrication technique that transfers a pattern or an image onto a material. Lincoln laboratory also initiated exploration of liquid immersion lithography and studied the feasibility of 121nm lithography. Osa information theoretical aspects in coherent optical.
The lab offers a general training session for lithography processing including details of process steps and the tools available. This excerpt gives a succinct explanation of immersion lithography. I have been subjecting students in my graduate level lithography. Slitho enables simulation of all relevant effects impacting the lithographic performance of. Optics for euv lithography have evolved over three decades to a level where excellent imaging is demonstrated. Wafer metal oxide line high resolution small depth of field lithography can focus on point a or b but not a and b simultaneously a b. The new, new limits of optical lithography chris a. Lithography is the transfer of geometric shapes on a mask to a smooth surface.
This shift from conventional dry optical lithography introduces numerous challenges requiring innovations in materials at all imaging stack levels. Optical lithography is defined as a lithographic technology that. Immersion lithography and the limits of optical lithography. Lincoln laboratory also initiated exploration of liquidimmersion lithography and studied the feasibility of 121nm lithography. This ultrahigh resolution was made possible by using 157nm light, a sapphire coupling prism with index 2. Lecture 7 lithography and pattern transfer reading. In this regard, some promising techniques have been proposed as nextgeneration lithography ngl that has the potentials to achieve both highvolume production and very high resolution.
Online access to spie ebooks is limited to subscribing institutions. Also termed immersion lithography, this enables the use of optics with numerical apertures exceeding 1. Immersion lithography seminar report, ppt, pdf for ece students. These smaller angles will result in smaller optical path differences between the various diffracted orders when out of focus, and thus a smaller degradation of the image for a given amount of defocus. However, the information transmission mechanism in lithography systems is not yet completely understood. A method and apparatus for immersion lithography is described. Introduction optical lithography has been the mainstay of semiconductor patterning since the early days of integrated circuit production. Explore immersion lithography with free download of seminar report and ppt in pdf and doc format. If we replace the air between the lens and the wafer with water, the optical. Maskless lithography any one of these will require significant advances in exposure tools, resists, masks except maskless and metrology.
The subsequent etching, lift off, or ion implantation process is masked by the resist image at the areas dictated by the lithography mask. Photolithography is a patterning process in which a photosensitive polymer is selectively exposed to light through a mask, leaving a latent image in the polymer that can then be selectively dissolved to provide patterned access to an underlying substrate. Chapters 8 and 9 and notes derived from a highly recommended book by chris mack, fundamental principles of optical lithography. The resolution is increased by a factor equal to the refractive index of the liquid. Exploring the capabilities of immersion lithography through.
Mack, klatencor abstract the end of optical lithography has been so often predicted incorrectly that such predictions are. This chapter addresses the approaches, systems, and materials that have been used, as optical lithography has enabled patterning from the micrometer scale down to the nanometer scale. A study of the feasibility ofwater immersion lithography at 193nm was reported earlier 3. Optical immersion lithography utilizes liquids with refractive indices 1 the index of air below the last lens element to enhance numerical aperture and resolution, enabling sub40nm feature patterning. This paper studies and analyzes the lithography imaging process from an information theory perspective. Immersion lithography is a photolithography resolution enhancement technique for manufacturing integrated circuits ics that replaces the usual air gap between the final lens and the wafer surface with a liquid medium that has a refractive index greater than one. Continuous rapid shrinking of feature size made the authorities to seek alternative patterning methods as the conventional photolithography comes with its intrinsic resolution limit. Highindex materials for 193 nm immersion lithography. Optical projection lithography has been the predominant method of micro and nanopatterning for most semiconductor and nanotechnology applications.
The thickness was controlled precisely by spincasting the fluid rather than through mechanical means. From broadband exposure via iline to arf immersion projection lithography. Optical lithography is the technique for printing ultrasmall patterns onto semiconductor wafers to make the complex circuits that are driving todays information explosion. Optical performance of laser light source for arf immersion double patterning lithography tool katsuhiko wakana, hiroaki tsushima, shinichi matsumoto, masaya yoshino, takahito kumazaki, hidenori watanabe, takeshi ohta, satoshi tanaka, toru suzuki, hiroaki nakarai, yasufumi. The optical industry has responded by developing a new class of immersion lenses so that researchers can demonstrate practical imagery with. Although optical lithography has been the mainstay of semiconductor manufacturing, there have been several attempts to introduce non optical technologies that would offer smaller geometries by using the much shorter energy wavelengths that lie outside of the visible spectrum. The minimum feature size required for the most advanced semiconductor devices is now below half the exposure wavelength, and the optical lithography technology is facing its practical resolution limit. Aug 30, 2016 immersion lithography the immersion technique was first introduced by carl zeiss in the 1880s to increase the resolving power of the optical microscope it attracted the ic industrys attention in 2002 when other types of lithography was delayed by several technical problems the introduction of water into the gap between the final lens and wafer. Layout design and lithography technology for advanced devices. In modern semiconductor manufacturing, photolithography uses optical radiation to image the mask on a silicon wafer using.
Layout design and lithography technology for advanced devices 116 layout design and lithography technology for advanced devices overview. Water immersion optical lithography for the 45nm node. Presents a thorough mathematical treatment of lithography, suitable for use in a graduate level course, with problems at the end of each chapter. This book presents a complete theoretical and practical treatment of the topic of lithography for both students and researchers. History of lithography technology interdependence and the evolution of semiconductor lithography. Since nextgeneration lithography ngl is still not mature enough, the industry relies heavily on resolution enhancement techniques rets, wherein optical proximity correction opc with 193 nm immersion lithography is dominant in.
For high index immersion lithography hil to enable 1. The method includes positioning a semiconductor substrate under an optical immersion head assembly, providing an immersion liquid between the substrate and the optical immersion head assembly, and supplying a tensioactive gaseous substance along the perimeter of the contact area of the immersion liquid and the substrate. The science of microfabrication chris mack fundamental principles of optical lithography. Pdf optical proximity correction opc under immersion.
Smith, hoyoung kang, anatoly bourov, frank cropanese, yongfa fan rochester institute of technology, microelectronic engineering department 82 lomb memorial drive, rochester, ny 14623 abstract it is possible to extend optical lithography by using immersion imaging methods. The mechanism behind reducing the minimum feature size is directly related to the numerical aperture na of the imaging equipment used 4. There are a variety of lithography processes that are available in the lnf. As a result, overall lithographic yield continuously degrades. A light source passes through a mask with transparent and opaque regions. A simple structure is defined with a photoresist layer covering a. Optical lithography and optical proximity correction. Resolution enhancement, resolution limits, optical lithography 1.
Hypernumerical aperture immersion lithography, on the other hand, is very similar to projection lithography but provides the capability to achieve much higher resolution 4. It is possible to extend optical lithography by using immersion imaging methods. Optical lithography also termed photolithograpy or uv lithography is the patterning of masks and samples with photoresist prior to other processing steps e. This paper will present an approach to immersion lithography that will allow for the exploration into the extreme limits of immersion lithography by. Research on 193nm optical lithography began in the early 1990s and immediately had challenges. Readers will gain knowledge of the basic equations. Any serious student interested in a career in the semiconductor industry or lithography should consider this book as a must read. Lecture 16 introduction to optical lithography eecs 598002 winter 2006 nanophotonics and nanoscale fabrication p. Water immersion optical lithography for the 45nm node bruce w.
Levinson 25 next generation lithography to overcome the limits of optical lithography, a different approach to lithography will be required. So how does this optical invariant affect our understanding of immersion lithography. Immersion lithography is a photolithography resolution enhancement technique for. Optical lithography has been extended to feature sizes below 50 nm using the 193 nm arf excimer laser and liquid immersion techniques. The material in this field guide to optical lithography is a distillation of material i have been putting together for the last 20 years or so. The full text of this article is available in pdf format. Historically, the application of immersion optics to microlithography has not. This paper will present an approach to immersion lithography that will allow for the exploration into the extreme limits of immersion lithography by eliminating the fluid altogether. The fundamental limit of optical lithography is not determined by the optical system alone but rather is an overall contributions from the optics, resist, develop and etching processes. The bottleneck for pushing the na further is the refractive index of the final lens element.
Capability of printing small features does not always guarantee a good quality and a repeatable and controllable patterning. Immersion lithography seminar report, ppt, pdf for ece. Alan doolittle used for pattern transfer into oxides, metals, semiconductors. Past trends are evaluated and used to predict future possibilities. Deep and extreme uv lithography the successor to optical lithography presented by. Optical lithography an overview sciencedirect topics. This book is aimed at new and experienced engineers, technology managers, and senior technicians who want to enrich their understanding of the image formation physics of a lithographic system. Right now, the starlith 3400 optics extends euv lithography to nm singleshot resolution with high productivity for serial production.