• 반도체디스플레이기술학회지
• /
• 제15권2호
• /
• pp.32-37
• /
• 2016

Sidewall angle (SWA) of an absorber stack in extreme ultraviolet lithography mask is considered to be $90^{\circ}$ ideally, however, it is difficult to obtain $90^{\circ}$ SWA because absorber profile is changed by complicated etching process. As the imaging performance of the mask can be varied with this SWA of the absorber stack, more complicated optical proximity correction is required to compensate for the variation of imaging performance. In this study, phase shift mask (PSM) is suggested to reduce the variation of imaging performance due to SWA change by modifying mask material and structure. Variations of imaging performance and lithography process margin depending on SWA were evaluated through aerial image and developed resist simulations to confirm the advantages of PSM over the binary intensity mask (BIM). The results show that the variations of normalized image log slope and critical dimension bias depending on SWA are reduced with PSM compared to BIM. Process margin for exposure dose and focus was also improved with PSM.

• 반도체디스플레이기술학회지
• /
• 제14권3호
• /
• pp.1-5
• /
• 2015

In photolithography process, resolution enhancement techniques such as optical proximity correction (OPC) and phase shift mask (PSM) have been applied to improve resolution. Especially, sub-resolution assist feature (SRAF) is one of the most important OPC to enhance image quality including depth of focus (DOF). However, imaging performance of the mask could be varied with the diffraction order amplitude changed by inserting SRAF. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the imaging properties and process margin of attenuated PSM with SRAF. Reflectivities of attenuated PSMs at 13.5 nm were 3, 6, 9% and simulation was performed by $PROLITH^{TM}$. As a result, aerial image properties and DOF as well as diffraction efficiency were improved by increasing the reflectivity of attenuated PSM. Additionally, printed critical dimension variations depending on SRAF width and space error were also reduced for attenuated PSM with high reflectivity. However, SRAF could be printed when reflectivity of attenuated PSM is high enough. In conclusion, optimization of reflectivity of attenuated PSM and SRAF to prevent side-lobe from being printed is needed to be considered.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
• /
• 제4권2호
• /
• pp.100-105
• /
• 2004

The influencing factors on the OPC (optical proximity correction) results are quantitatively analyzed using OPCed L/S patterns. ${\sigma}$ values of proximity variations are measured to be 9.3 nm and 15.2 nm for PR-A and PR-B, respectively. The effect of post exposure bake condition is assessed. 16.2 nm and 13.8 nm of variations are observed. Proximity variations of 11.6 nm and 15.2 nm are measured by changing the illumination condition. In order not to seriously deteriorate the OPC, these factors should be fixed after the OPC rules are extracted. Proximity variations of 11.4, 13.9, and 15.2 nm are observed for the mask mean-to-targets of 0, 2 and 4 nm, respectively. The decrease the OPC grid size from 1 nm to 0.5 nm enhances the correction resolution and the OCV is reduced from 14.6 nm to 11.4 nm. The enhancement amount of proximity variations are 9.2 nm corresponding to 39% improvement. The critical dimension (CD) uniformity improvement for adopting the small grid size is confirmed by measuring the CD uniformity on real SRAM pattern. CD uniformities are measured 9.9 nm and 8.7 nm for grid size of 1 nm and 0.5 nm, respectively. 22% improvement of the CD uniformity is achieved. The decrease of OPC grid size is shown to improve not only the proximity correction, but also the uniformity.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국진공학회 2016년도 제50회 동계 정기학술대회 초록집
• /
• pp.93-93
• /
• 2016

Large scale integrated circuits (LSIs) has been improved by the shrinkage of the circuit dimensions. The smaller chip sizes and increase in circuit density require the miniaturization of the line-width and space between metal interconnections. Therefore, an extreme precise control of the critical dimension and pattern profile is necessary to fabricate next generation nano-electronics devices. The pattern profile control of plasma etching with an accuracy of sub-nanometer must be achieved. To realize the etching process which achieves the problem, understanding of the etching mechanism and precise control of the process based on the real-time monitoring of internal plasma parameters such as etching species density, surface temperature of substrate, etc. are very important. For instance, it is known that the etched profiles of organic low dielectric (low-k) films are sensitive to the substrate temperature and density ratio of H and N atoms in the H2/N2 plasma [1]. In this study, we introduced a feedback control of actual substrate temperature and radical density ratio monitored in real time. And then the dependence of etch rates and profiles of organic films have been evaluated based on the substrate temperatures. In this study, organic low-k films were etched by a dual frequency capacitively coupled plasma employing the mixture of H2/N2 gases. A 100-MHz power was supplied to an upper electrode for plasma generation. The Si substrate was electrostatically chucked to a lower electrode biased by supplying a 2-MHz power. To investigate the effects of H and N radical on the etching profile of organic low-k films, absolute H and N atom densities were measured by vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy [2]. Moreover, using the optical fiber-type low-coherence interferometer [3], substrate temperature has been measured in real time during etching process. From the measurement results, the temperature raised rapidly just after plasma ignition and was gradually saturated. The temporal change of substrate temperature is a crucial issue to control of surface reactions of reactive species. Therefore, by the intervals of on-off of the plasma discharge, the substrate temperature was maintained within ${\pm}1.5^{\circ}C$ from the set value. As a result, the temperatures were kept within $3^{\circ}C$ during the etching process. Then, we etched organic films with line-and-space pattern using this system. The cross-sections of the organic films etched for 50 s with the substrate temperatures at $20^{\circ}C$ and $100^{\circ}C$ were observed by SEM. From the results, they were different in the sidewall profile. It suggests that the reactions on the sidewalls changed according to the substrate temperature. The precise substrate temperature control method with real-time temperature monitoring and intermittent plasma generation was suggested to contribute on realization of fine pattern etching.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국진공학회 2013년도 제45회 하계 정기학술대회 초록집
• /
• pp.81-81
• /
• 2013

반도체, LCD, MEMs 등 미세 전자소자의 제작과 깊은 관련이 있는 IT 산업은 자동차 산업과 함께 세계 경제를 이끌고 있는 핵심 산업이며, 그 발전 가능성이 크다고 할 수 있다. 이 중 반도체, LCD 공정 기술에 관해서 대한민국은 세계를 선도하여 시장을 이끌어 나가고 있는 실정이다. 이들의 공정기술은 주로 높은 수율(yield)을 기반으로 한 대량 생산 기술에 초점이 맞추어져 있기 때문에, 현재와 같은 첨예한 가격 경쟁력이 요구되는 시대에서 공정 기술 개발을 통해 수율을 최대한으로 이끌어 내는 것이 현재 반도체를 비롯한 미세소자 산업이 직면하고 있는 하나의 중대한 과제라 할 수 있다. 특히 반도체공정에 있어 발전을 거듭하여 현재 20 nm 수준의 선폭을 갖는 소자들의 양산이 계획 있는데 이와 같은 나노미터급 선폭을 갖는 소자 양산과 관련된 CD (critical dimension)의 감소는 공차의 감소를 유발시키고 있으며, 패널의 양산에 있어서 생산 효율 증가를 위한 기판 크기의 대형화가 이루어지고 있다. 또한, 소자의 집적도를 높이기 위하여 높은 종횡비(aspect ratio)를 요구하는 공정이 일반화됨에 따라 단일 웨이퍼 내에서의 공정의 균일도(With in wafer uniformity, WIWU) 및 공정이 진행되는 시간에 따른 균일도(Wafer to wafer uniformity)의 변화 양상에 대한 파악을 통한 공정 진단에 대한 요구가 급증하고 있는 현실이다. 반도체 및 LCD 공정에 있어서 공정 균일도의 감시 및 향상을 위하여 박막, 증착, 식각의 주요 공정에 널리 사용되고 있는 플라즈마의 균일도(uniformity)를 파악하고 실시간으로 감시하는 것이 반드시 필요하며, 플라즈마의 균일도를 파악한다는 것은 플라즈마의 기판 상의 공간적 분포(radial direction)를 확인하여 보는 것을 의미한다. 현재까지 플라즈마의 공간적 분포를 진단하는 대표적인 방법으로는 랭뮤어 탐침(Langmuir Probe), 레이저 유도 형광법(Laser Induced Fluorescence, LIF) 그리고 광섬유를 이용한 발광분광법(Optical Emission Spectroscopy, OES)등이 있으나 랭뮤어 탐침은 플라즈마 본연의 상태에서 섭동(pertubation) 현상에 의한 교란, 이온에너지 측정의 한계로 인하여 공정의 실시간 감시에 적합하지 않으며, 레이저 유도 형광법은 측정 물질의 제한성 때문에 플라즈마 내부에 존재하는 다양한 종의 거동을 살필 수 없다는 단점 및 장치의 설치와 정렬(alignment)이 상대적으로 어려워 산업 현장에서 사용하기에 한계가 있다. 본 연구에서는 최소 50 cm에서 최대 400 cm까지 플라즈마 내 측정 거리에서 최대 20 mm 공간 분해가 가능한 광 수광 시스템 및 플라즈마 공정에서의 라디칼의 상태 변화를 분광학적 비접촉 방법으로 계측할 수 있는 발광 분광 분석기를 접목하여 플라즈마 챔버 내의 라디칼 공간 분포를 계측할 수 있는 진단 센서를 고안하고 이를 실 공정에 적용하여 보았다. 플라즈마 증착 및 식각 공정에서 형성된 박막의 두께 및 식각률과 공간 분해발광 분석법을 통하여 계측된 결과와의 매우 높은 상관관계를 확인하였다.