Exposure field size considerations for yield

Uwe Paul Schroeder; Gerhard Kunkel

doi:10.1117/12.485483

26 June 2003 Exposure field size considerations for yield

Uwe Paul Schroeder, Gerhard Kunkel

Proceedings Volume 5040, Optical Microlithography XVI; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.485483
Event: Microlithography 2003, 2003, Santa Clara, California, United States

Abstract

Maximized use of exposure fields is essential for achieving high stepper throughput rates and high productivity in semiconductor manufacturing. For today’s low-k lithography, very often lens quality is limiting the imaging performance and can eat up overlay budget and allowable CD tolerance. As a result, decreasing yield at extreme slit positions, is a potential danger. Finding an optimum product field size, considering stepper productivity and product yield, is difficult and often based on non-measurable engineering experience. This paper investigates the effect of lens aberrations on misplacement and CD deviations of two critical patterns in a DRAM cell. It can be shown that, depending on the exposure tool, the biggest error can even occur close to the middle of the exposure slit. Also, model calculations based on PMI numbers underestimate the actual overlay degradation. Therefore, smaller exposure fields do not necessarily avoid pitfalls caused by high lens aberrations or other effects resulting in a reduced overlay budget.

Citation Download Citation

Uwe Paul Schroeder and Gerhard Kunkel "Exposure field size considerations for yield", Proc. SPIE 5040, Optical Microlithography XVI, (26 June 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.485483

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available