Key Technologies and Applications of Excimer Laser as Light Sources in Lithography

Fig. 2. Position of lithography system in integrated circuit technology and schematic diagram of lithography system. (a) Position; (b) schematic diagram

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Fig. 3. Trend of exposure wavelength reduction and theoretical resolution limit for laser source of lithography system^[1]

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Fig. 4. Diagram of E95 and FWHM

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Fig. 5. Schematic of single-chamber excimer laser system

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Fig. 6. Cross section of discharge chamber^[10]

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Fig. 7. Schematic of dual-chamber excimer laser system

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Fig. 8. Light path of MOPA dual-chamber

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Fig. 9. Ring light path of MOPRA dual-chamber

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Fig. 10. Light path of injection lock structure

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Fig. 11. Schematic of clearance in discharge region^[1]

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Fig. 12. Basic schematic of gas lifetime controller system^[40]

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Fig. 13. Diagram of light propagation

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Fig. 14. Intensity distributions of Gaussian mode and excimer mode and their curves of knife edge. (a) Beam of Gaussian fundamental mode^[48]; (b) beam of excimer laser^[48]; (c) relationship between knife edge ratio ∈ and D_c/σ_x for several Gaussian modes^[49]

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Fig. 15. Recent excimer laser source is improved in many aspects, including production ratio, durability and optical performance

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Fig. 16. Concept schematic of Gigaphoton hTGM Neon recycling system^[54]

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Fig. 17. Concept schematic of Cymer XLGR Neon recycling system^［56］

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Fig. 18. Relationship between change of E95 and change of critical dimension is basically linear correlation

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Fig. 19. Excimer laser inspection system ExciStar S-Industrial designed by Coherent Inc^[64]

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Fig. 20. Cross section of fiber structure used in laser inspection system^[65]

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Table 1. Wavelengths of different excimer lasers
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Table 1. Wavelengths of different excimer lasers
Halogen Excimer laser gasmixture
Excimer $F_{2}$ ArF KrCl KrF XeBr XeCL XeF（B-X）
Wavelength /nm 157 193 222 248 262 308 351

Table 2. Development history of excimer lasers

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Table 2. Development history of excimer lasers

Year	Research institution	Landmark of progression
1970	Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow	The first excimer lasing was invented
1974	University of Cambridge，Cambridge，UK；Kansas State University，Kansas，USA；Avco Everett Research Laboratory，Everett，Massachusetts，USA	The fluorescence spectra of rare-gas halides were investigated
1975	Naval Research Laboratory，Washington，USA；Northrop Research and Technology Center，Hawthorne，USA；Avco Everett Research Laboratory，Everett，Massachusetts，USA；Sandia Laboratories，Albuquerque，USA	The first laser of exciplexes was demonstrated
1979	Lambda Physik	The first commercial excimer laser system was developed
1980	IBM	Jain proposed the concept of excimer laser on lithography
1980	IBM	The lithographic exposure experiment by excimer lasers in contact mode was carried out
1982	IBM	With the modified Micralign system，the projection lithography by excimer laser was experimentally demonstrated

Table 3. Some models of lithography systems for ASML, Nikon and Canon, and laser sources of these systems

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Table 3. Some models of lithography systems for ASML, Nikon and Canon, and laser sources of these systems

Company	Model	Exposure type	Resolution /nm	Laser source	NA	Output rate（Wafer /h）
ASML	NXT1980Di	Double immersion step-and-scan exposure	38	193 nm ArF	1.35	275
	NXT1950i	Double immersion step-and-scan exposure	38		1.35	175
	XT1450H	Double dry step-and-scan exposure	65		0.93	162
	XT1000K		80	248 nm KrF	0.93	180
	XT860K		110	248 nm KrF	0.80	210
	XT400K		350	365 nm high pressure mercury lamp	0.65	220
	PAS5500/1150C	Single step-and-scan exposure	90	193 nm ArF	0.75	135
	PAS5500/850D	NA	110	248 nm KrF	0.80	145
	PAS5500/450F	NA	220	365 nm high pressure mercury lamp	0.65	150
Nikon	NSR-S631E	immersion step-and-scan exposure	38	193 nm ArF	1.35	270
	NSR-S621D	immersion step-and-scan exposure	38	193 nm ArF	1.35	200
	NSR-S322F	step-and-scan exposure	65	248 nm KrF	0.92	230
	NSR-S210D	step-and-scan exposure	110	248 nm KrF	0.86	176
Canon	FPA-6300ES6a	step-and-scan exposure	90	248 nm KrF	0.86	200

Table 4. Influence of laser source parameters on critical dimension of lithography system

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Table 4. Influence of laser source parameters on critical dimension of lithography system

	Critical dimension
Lithography	Lens aberrations	Focus	Dose control	Optical proximity effect	Illumination
Lasers	Linewidth	Wavelength stability	Energy stability	Bandwidth stability	Beam stability
Lasers	Spectral shape		Beam stability	Beam stability	Degree of polarization

Table 5. Relationship of process node with linewidth and center wavelength stability

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Table 5. Relationship of process node with linewidth and center wavelength stability

Process node /nm	Type	Linewidth（FWHM）/pm	Center wavelength stability /pm
180‒110	KrF single-chamber	≤0.35‒0.60	≤0.050
90‒65	ArF dual-chamber，dry	≤0.25	≤0.030
45‒28	ArF dual-chamber，immersion	≤0.25	≤0.030
14	ArF dual-chamber，immersion，multiple exposure	≤0.25	≤0.018
7	ArF dual-chamber，immersion，multiple exposure	≤0.25	≤0.012

Table 6. Comparison of gas reduction and recycling between Cymer and Gigaphoton in recent years

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Table 6. Comparison of gas reduction and recycling between Cymer and Gigaphoton in recent years

Year	Cymer	Gigaphoton
2015	With GLX system and Neon reduction system，75% of Neon usage is saved for XLR700ix	Helium is replaced by Nitrogen for GT64A，and it saves 80 kL Nitrogen per year；For GT63A，with help of eTGM Neon reduction system，usage of Neon is reduced from 200 kL per year to 100 kL per year
2016
2017
2018	On basis of Neon reduction system，90% Neon is saved by XLGR Neon recycling system for XLR800ix	On basis of eTGM，92% Neon is recycled by hTGM Neon recycling system for GT65A
2019

Table 7. Comparison of laser lifetime between Cymer and Gigaphoton in recent years

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Table 7. Comparison of laser lifetime between Cymer and Gigaphoton in recent years

Year	Cymer	Gigaphoton
2015	Maximum lifetime of XLR700ix is 90 billion pulses	Maximum chamber lifetime of GT64A is 40 billion pulses
2016
2017
2018	Maximum chamber lifetime of XLR800ix is 120 billion pulses	Maximum chamber lifetime of GT64A is 60 billion pulses
2019	Maximum chamber lifetime of XLR800ix is 120 billion pulses	Maximum chamber lifetime of GT64A is 60 billion pulses
2020	Expected maximum chamber lifetime of XLR900ix is 180 billion pulses	Maximum chamber lifetime of GT66A-1 is 100 billion pulses
Future	NA	Maximum chamber lifetime of GT66A-1 is 120 billion pulses and maximum line narrowing module lifetime is 180 billion pulses

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Rui Jiang. Key Technologies and Applications of Excimer Laser as Light Sources in Lithography[J]. Laser & Optoelectronics Progress, 2022, 59(9): 0922020

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Paper Information

Category: Optical Design and Fabrication

Received: Feb. 10, 2022

Accepted: Apr. 10, 2022

Published Online: May. 10, 2022

The Author Email: Jiang Rui (jiangrui@ime.ac.cn)

DOI:10.3788/LOP202259.0922020

Topics

laser devices and laser physics

Lasers and Laser Optics

Laser physics

laser manufacturing

Instrumentation, Measurement and Metrology

Table 1. Wavelengths of different excimer lasers

Table 1. Wavelengths of different excimer lasers

Table 2. Development history of excimer lasers

Table 2. Development history of excimer lasers

Table 3. Some models of lithography systems for ASML, Nikon and Canon, and laser sources of these systems

Table 3. Some models of lithography systems for ASML, Nikon and Canon, and laser sources of these systems

Table 4. Influence of laser source parameters on critical dimension of lithography system

Table 4. Influence of laser source parameters on critical dimension of lithography system

Table 5. Relationship of process node with linewidth and center wavelength stability

Table 5. Relationship of process node with linewidth and center wavelength stability

Table 6. Comparison of gas reduction and recycling between Cymer and Gigaphoton in recent years

Table 6. Comparison of gas reduction and recycling between Cymer and Gigaphoton in recent years

Table 7. Comparison of laser lifetime between Cymer and Gigaphoton in recent years

Table 7. Comparison of laser lifetime between Cymer and Gigaphoton in recent years