Extreme ultraviolet(EUV)lithography with high numerical aperture(NA)is a future technology to manufacture the integrated circuit in sub-nanometer dimension.Meanwhile,source mask co-optimization(SMO)is an extensively u...Extreme ultraviolet(EUV)lithography with high numerical aperture(NA)is a future technology to manufacture the integrated circuit in sub-nanometer dimension.Meanwhile,source mask co-optimization(SMO)is an extensively used approach for advanced lithography process beyond 28 nm technology node.This work proposes a novel SMO method to improve the image fidelity of high-NA EUV lithography system.A fast high-NA EUV lithography imaging model is established first,which includes the effects of mask three-dimensional structure and anamorphic magnification.Then,this paper develops an efficient SMO method that combines the gradient-based mask optimization algorithm and the compressivesensing-based source optimization algorithm.A mask rule check(MRC)process is further proposed to simplify the optimized mask pattern.Results illustrate that the proposed SMO method can significantly reduce the lithography patterning error,and maintain high computational efficiency.展开更多
Although several years delayed than its initial plan, extreme UV lithography (EUVL) with 13.5nm wavelength has been finally implemented into high volume manufacture (HVM) of mainstream semiconductor industry since 201...Although several years delayed than its initial plan, extreme UV lithography (EUVL) with 13.5nm wavelength has been finally implemented into high volume manufacture (HVM) of mainstream semiconductor industry since 2018. With the delivery and installation of ASML EUV scanners in those giant Fab players like Samsung, TSMC and Intel, EUV lithography is becoming a sort of industry standard exposure metrology for those critical layers of advanced technology nodes beyond 7nm. Although ASML NXE EUVL scanner is the only commercialized EUV exposure system available on the market, its development is the concentration of all essence from worldwide industrial and academic collaboration. It is becoming more and more important not only for fab runners but also for main stream fabless design houses to understand and participate the progress of EUVL. In this review, working principles, module structures and technical challenges have been briefly discussed regarding each EUV subsystem, including light source, reflection mirrors and system, reticle module as well as photoresist development. EUV specific issues of light intensity, defectivity within reflection system, line edge roughness (LER) and mask 3D effects have been focused respectively and promising solutions have been summarized as well.展开更多
Source and mask joint optimization(SMO)is a widely used computational lithography method for state-of-the-art optical lithography process to improve the yield of semiconductor wafers.Nowadays,computational efficiency ...Source and mask joint optimization(SMO)is a widely used computational lithography method for state-of-the-art optical lithography process to improve the yield of semiconductor wafers.Nowadays,computational efficiency has become one of the most challenging issues for the development of pixelated SMO techniques.Recently,compressive sensing(CS)theory has be explored in the area of computational inverse problems.This paper proposes a CS approach to improve the computational efficiency of pixel-based SMO algorithms.To our best knowledge,this paper is the first to develop fast SMO algorithms based on the CS framework.The SMO workflow can be separated into two stages,i.e.,source optimization(SO)and mask optimization(MO).The SO and MO are formulated as the linear CS and nonlinear CS reconstruction problems,respectively.Based on the sparsity representation of the source and mask patterns on the predefined bases,the SO and MO procedures are implemented by sparse image reconstruction algorithms.A set of simulations are presented to verify the proposed CS-SMO methods.The proposed CS-SMO algorithms are shown to outperform the traditional gradient-based SMO algorithm in terms of both computational efficiency and lithography imaging performance.展开更多
This paper addresses the contributing factors in lithographic source and mask optimization,namely,the accuracy of the image formation model and the efficiency of the inverse imaging calculations in the optimization fr...This paper addresses the contributing factors in lithographic source and mask optimization,namely,the accuracy of the image formation model and the efficiency of the inverse imaging calculations in the optimization framework.A variational level-set formulation is established to incorporate a distance regularization term and an external energy.The former maintains a signed-distance profile and the latter minimizes the sum of the mismatches between the printed image and the desired one over all locations.Hence the need of reinitialization is eliminated in a principle way securing a stable level-set evolution and accurate computation with a simpler and more efficient numerical implementation.We employ a vector imaging model together with a stratified media model to describe the vector nature of electromagnetic fields propagating in the coupling image formation.Several strategies including computing the convolution operation with Fast Fourier Transform,the electric-field caching technique and the conjugate gradient method are discussed to ease the computation load and improve convergence.展开更多
As the IC manufacturing enter sub 20nm tech nodes,DFM become more and more important to make sure more stable yield and lower cost.However,by introducing newly designed hardware(1980i etc.)process chemical(NTD)and Con...As the IC manufacturing enter sub 20nm tech nodes,DFM become more and more important to make sure more stable yield and lower cost.However,by introducing newly designed hardware(1980i etc.)process chemical(NTD)and Control Algorithm(Focus APC)into the mature tech nodes such as 14nm/12nm,more process window and less process variations are expected for latecomer wafer fabs(Tier-2/3 companies)who just started the competition with Tier-1 companies.With improved weapons,latecomer companies are able to review their DFM strategy one more time to see whether the benefit from hardware/process/control algorithm improvement can be shared with designers.In this paper,we use OPC simulation tools from different EDA suppliers to see the feasibility of transferring the benefits of hardware/process/control algorithm improvement to more relaxed design limitation through source mask optimization(SMO):1)Better hardware:scanner(better focus/exposure variation),CMP(intrafield topo),Mask CD variation(relaxed MEEF spec),etc.2) New process:from positive tone development to negative tone development.3)Better control schemes:holistic focus feedback,feedback/forward overlay control,high order CD uniformity improvement.Simulations show all those gains in hardware and process can be transferred into more relaxed design such as sub design rule structure process window include forbidden pitches(1D)and smaller E2E gaps(2D weak points).展开更多
基金financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 62274181,62204257 and 62374016)Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (No. 2019YFB2205005)+4 种基金Guangdong Province Research and Development Program in Key Fields (No. 2021B0101280002)the support from Youth Innovation Promotion Association Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. 2021115)Beijing Institute of ElectronicsBeijing Association for Science and Technology as well,the support from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. 118900M032)China Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. E2ET3801)
文摘Extreme ultraviolet(EUV)lithography with high numerical aperture(NA)is a future technology to manufacture the integrated circuit in sub-nanometer dimension.Meanwhile,source mask co-optimization(SMO)is an extensively used approach for advanced lithography process beyond 28 nm technology node.This work proposes a novel SMO method to improve the image fidelity of high-NA EUV lithography system.A fast high-NA EUV lithography imaging model is established first,which includes the effects of mask three-dimensional structure and anamorphic magnification.Then,this paper develops an efficient SMO method that combines the gradient-based mask optimization algorithm and the compressivesensing-based source optimization algorithm.A mask rule check(MRC)process is further proposed to simplify the optimized mask pattern.Results illustrate that the proposed SMO method can significantly reduce the lithography patterning error,and maintain high computational efficiency.
文摘Although several years delayed than its initial plan, extreme UV lithography (EUVL) with 13.5nm wavelength has been finally implemented into high volume manufacture (HVM) of mainstream semiconductor industry since 2018. With the delivery and installation of ASML EUV scanners in those giant Fab players like Samsung, TSMC and Intel, EUV lithography is becoming a sort of industry standard exposure metrology for those critical layers of advanced technology nodes beyond 7nm. Although ASML NXE EUVL scanner is the only commercialized EUV exposure system available on the market, its development is the concentration of all essence from worldwide industrial and academic collaboration. It is becoming more and more important not only for fab runners but also for main stream fabless design houses to understand and participate the progress of EUVL. In this review, working principles, module structures and technical challenges have been briefly discussed regarding each EUV subsystem, including light source, reflection mirrors and system, reticle module as well as photoresist development. EUV specific issues of light intensity, defectivity within reflection system, line edge roughness (LER) and mask 3D effects have been focused respectively and promising solutions have been summarized as well.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)(61675021)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(2018CX01025).
文摘Source and mask joint optimization(SMO)is a widely used computational lithography method for state-of-the-art optical lithography process to improve the yield of semiconductor wafers.Nowadays,computational efficiency has become one of the most challenging issues for the development of pixelated SMO techniques.Recently,compressive sensing(CS)theory has be explored in the area of computational inverse problems.This paper proposes a CS approach to improve the computational efficiency of pixel-based SMO algorithms.To our best knowledge,this paper is the first to develop fast SMO algorithms based on the CS framework.The SMO workflow can be separated into two stages,i.e.,source optimization(SO)and mask optimization(MO).The SO and MO are formulated as the linear CS and nonlinear CS reconstruction problems,respectively.Based on the sparsity representation of the source and mask patterns on the predefined bases,the SO and MO procedures are implemented by sparse image reconstruction algorithms.A set of simulations are presented to verify the proposed CS-SMO methods.The proposed CS-SMO algorithms are shown to outperform the traditional gradient-based SMO algorithm in terms of both computational efficiency and lithography imaging performance.
基金Natural Science Foundation of China(61875041)Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province,China(2016A030313709,2015A030310290)+1 种基金Guangzhou Science and Technology Project,China(201607010180)Guangxi Science Foundation(2013GXNSFCA019019,2017GXNSFAA198227).
文摘This paper addresses the contributing factors in lithographic source and mask optimization,namely,the accuracy of the image formation model and the efficiency of the inverse imaging calculations in the optimization framework.A variational level-set formulation is established to incorporate a distance regularization term and an external energy.The former maintains a signed-distance profile and the latter minimizes the sum of the mismatches between the printed image and the desired one over all locations.Hence the need of reinitialization is eliminated in a principle way securing a stable level-set evolution and accurate computation with a simpler and more efficient numerical implementation.We employ a vector imaging model together with a stratified media model to describe the vector nature of electromagnetic fields propagating in the coupling image formation.Several strategies including computing the convolution operation with Fast Fourier Transform,the electric-field caching technique and the conjugate gradient method are discussed to ease the computation load and improve convergence.
文摘As the IC manufacturing enter sub 20nm tech nodes,DFM become more and more important to make sure more stable yield and lower cost.However,by introducing newly designed hardware(1980i etc.)process chemical(NTD)and Control Algorithm(Focus APC)into the mature tech nodes such as 14nm/12nm,more process window and less process variations are expected for latecomer wafer fabs(Tier-2/3 companies)who just started the competition with Tier-1 companies.With improved weapons,latecomer companies are able to review their DFM strategy one more time to see whether the benefit from hardware/process/control algorithm improvement can be shared with designers.In this paper,we use OPC simulation tools from different EDA suppliers to see the feasibility of transferring the benefits of hardware/process/control algorithm improvement to more relaxed design limitation through source mask optimization(SMO):1)Better hardware:scanner(better focus/exposure variation),CMP(intrafield topo),Mask CD variation(relaxed MEEF spec),etc.2) New process:from positive tone development to negative tone development.3)Better control schemes:holistic focus feedback,feedback/forward overlay control,high order CD uniformity improvement.Simulations show all those gains in hardware and process can be transferred into more relaxed design such as sub design rule structure process window include forbidden pitches(1D)and smaller E2E gaps(2D weak points).
