ENSC-E131 NanoFabrication and NanoAnalysis

Lithography
Jiangdong (JD) Deng, Ph.D

Photolithography (Talk 1) Fundamentals, Processes

Overview of Photolithography
Micro/Nano fabrication processes
Basic steps of photolithography

Fundamentals of photolithography
Photomask
UV exposure (light source, exposure optics, equipment)
Photoresist and related processes

Resolution Limits and Profile Control

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

Photolithography (Talk 2)
Advanced Lithography for Nanofabrication
E-beam lithography
Imprint Lithography
X-ray Lithography
Focus Ion-beam (FIB) Lithography
SPM lithography

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

Trend of Nanofabrication

Micro/Nano Fabrication Processes

Wafer
Preparation

Design

Design
Wafer Preparation
- Material Growth, cutting, polishing

Front-End
Processes

Thin Films

- LPCVD, MOCVD, MBE, ALD, wafer-bonding

Metrology
(Photo)lithography

Front-end Processes

Lithography (photo-, E-Beam, FIB)

Etch
- RIE, wet etching,

Cleaning
- Wet, plasma, O-zone

Ion
Implantation

Etch

- PVD, PECVD, ALD, LPCVD

Cleaning

Thin Films

Planarization

- Spin coating, CVD,

Test & Back End

Ion Implantation
Planarization
Test and Back-end
- Dicing/cleaver, Wire bonding, assembly

Metrology

Photolithography

Photo-litho-graphy: light-stonewriting
Photolithography is a technique that is
used to define the shape of nano/micromachined structures on a wafer
Purpose: Transfer same circuit patterns
onto a large number of wafers.

Key role in Nanofabrication

Critical dimension generations

Major Concerns in Photolithography

Resolution

3 key parts/components in
photolithography

Profile control

Mask

Overlay accuracy

Photoresist

Process latitude
9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

UV exposure system

Beginning of Integrated Circuits in 1959

Kilby (TI) and Noyce (Fairchild Semiconductors)

Photolithography used for Pattern Formation

Mask

Light

Photoresist

Sensitive to light
Durable in etching

Deposited Film
Substrate
Film deposition

Photoresist application

Exposure

Etch mask

Development

Etching

Resist removal

Basic lithography process

which is central to todays
chip fabrication.

8 Steps in Photolithography
UV Light

HMDS

Resist

Mask

Photoresist
and
Process
3) Soft bake
2) Spin coat
4) Alignment

1) Surface preparation

and Exposure

PhotoMask
UV Exposure
5) Post-exposure
bake (option)
9/26/2011

6) Develop

7) Hard bake
(option)

Jiangdong Deng

8) Develop
inspect
9

Photolithography Physical
Characteristics

9/26/2011

Resolution
Contrast (profile control)
Sensitivity
Photoresist and Process
Viscosity
Adhesion
PhotoMask
Etch
resistance
Surface tension
Surface
roughness
UV Exposure
Storage and handling
Contaminants and particles
Jiangdong Deng

10

Photolithography Processes
UV Light

HMDS

Resist

Mask

1) Surface preparation

5) Post-exposure
bake (option)
9/26/2011

2) Spin coat

6) Develop

3) Soft bake

7) Hard bake
(option)

Jiangdong Deng

4) Alignment
and Exposure

8) Develop
inspect
11

Photolithography (Talk 1) Fundamentals, Basic Process

Overview of Photolithography
Micro/Nano fabrication processes
Basic steps of photolithography

Fundamentals of photolithography

- Photomask
UV exposure (light source, exposure optics, equipment)
Photoresist and related processes

Photolithography limits
Pattern profile control in Photolithography
9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

12

Photomasks

Master patterns that will be transferred to wafers

Transparent substrate coated with patterned, UV-opaque material
Types:
Laser-plotting on plastic film (cheapest)
Cr on soda lime glass
Cr on quartz glass (most expensive, needed for deep UV litho)
Polarity:
light-field = mostly clear, drawn feature = opaque
dark-field = mostly opaque, drawn feature = clear

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

13

Photomasks
Two Types of Photomasks in CNS
Mask

Materials

Writing
Method

Hard' Mask

Cr on glass
plate (Sodalime or Quartz )

Laser Writing, or
E-beam
Lithography
(EBL)

Transparent
Film

9/26/2011

Smallest Pattern
Feature Quality

High-precision
Ink on plastic
laser printer (5k film
20k dpi)

1um (EBL
can reach
sub-um)

Smooth
edge

>10um

Rough
edge

Jiangdong Deng

Price

Vendors

Others

CNS,
expensive
good for
Advance
($80/hour
Reproductions alignment
in CNS)

Outputcity,
not good for
Advance
cheap
Reproductions alignment
(<$35)

14

Importance of Mask Overlay

Accuracy
Top view of CMOS inverter

The masking layers

determine the accuracy by
which subsequent
processes can be
performed.
The photoresist mask
pattern prepares individual
layers for proper
placement, orientation, and
size of structures to be
etched or implanted.
Small sizes and low
tolerances do not provide
much room for error.
9/26/2011

PMOSFET

NMOSFET

Cross section of CMOS inverter

Jiangdong Deng

Figure 13.4
15

Alignment Marks

+ GA

+ FAR

RAR

RA, Reticle alignment marks, L/R

GA, Wafer global alignment marks,
L/R
FA, Wafer fine alignment marks, L/R

+ GAR

FAL/R +

+ FAL

RAL
1st Mask

+ GAL

FAR

For 2nd
mask

1st mask layer

Notch, coarse
alignment

FAL/R +
+
From
1st
mask

FAL

2nd Mask
2nd mask layer

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

16

Photolithography (Talk 1) Fundamentals, Basic Process

Overview of Photolithography
Micro/Nano fabrication processes
Basic steps of photolithography

Fundamentals of photolithography

- Photomask
UV exposure (light source, exposure optics, equipment)
Photoresist and related processes

Resolution limits
Pattern profile control in Photolithography
9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

17

Wavelengths of Exposure
Sources
UV
Wavelength
(nm)

Wavelength
Name

UV Emission Source

Energy (eV)

436

g-line

Mercury arc lamp

2.84

405

h-line

Mercury arc lamp

3.1

365

i-line

3.4

248

Deep UV
(DUV)

Mercury arc lamp

Mercury arc lamp or
Krypton Fluoride (KrF)
excimer laser

193

Deep UV
(DUV)

Argon Fluoride (ArF) excimer

laser

157

Vacuum UV
(VUV)

Fluorine (F2) excimer laser

13.4

EUV (Extreme
UV, soft-X-ray)

Plasma from Xe gas excited by

high power laser

92.6

0.5

X-Ray

X-ray

2480

0.062

Electron

20 keV

0.012

Ion

100 keV

4.96
6.42
7.9

Decreasing feature sizes requires shorter .

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

18

Light source:
Mercury Arc Lamp

I HG

Spectrum image from http://zeiss-campus.magnet.fsu.edu/

Three Basic Exposure Methods

1:1 Exposure

1:1 Exposure

~5:1 Exposure

2b

Resolution (b):
d,9/26/2011
the thickness of photoresist, s, the gap of Jiangdong
mask-resit,
k~3
Deng

20
K1,2 ~0.3-0.9

Light Profile Comparisons of

three exposure modes

Contact/Proximity exposure: Fresnel diffraction (near-field)

Projection exposure:
9/26/2011

Frounhoffer diffraction (far-field)

Jiangdong Deng

21

Comparisons of three exposure

modes

Exposure System

Advantage

Proximity

Application

Low cost (<200K)

Mask contamination and

damage
Sensitive to wafer bowing

High throughput

Defects impact

Low mask/sample
contamination

Poor resolution

R&D

Expensive (>$5M)

Dominates in
production

High resolution (Near-filed)

Contact

Disadvantage

R&D

Hight resolution
Projection

Low mask contamination

High throughput (50 wafer/h)

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

22

Exposure Equipments

Contact/Proximity Aligner
Direct write lithography (Heidelburg, DWL66)
Scanning Projection Aligner (scanner)
Step-and-Repeat Aligner (stepper, production tool)
Step-and Scan System

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

23

Contact/Proximity Aligner Systems

in CNS
Suss-MJB4

Suss-MA6

Mercury
arc lamp
Illuminator

Alignment
scope (split
vision)
Mask stage
(X, Y , Z , )

Mask

Suss-MJB3
AB-M
Wafer

Wafer stage
(X, Y, Z, )

9/26/2011

Vacuum
chuck
Jiangdong Deng

24

Wafer stepper / wafer scanner

Heidelburg, DWL66

Exposure Procedure
(Contact Mask Aligner)
Mask loading
Wafer loading

WEC- Wedge Error Compensation,

-to make
the sample
Two
Keys
for a surface
good
conformably contact the mask without
exposure:
wedge.

WEC contacting
Separation
Alignment
Exposure Contacting
NO

Alignment/contact
Checking

Exposure Contact Control

Proximity
1, Right
exposure dosage
Soft-contact
Hard Contact
Vacuum
Contact
2. Good
contact!!!
Alignment/Contact Check
Shadow effect

Yes
Exposure
9/26/2011

Unload wafer/mask
Jiangdong Deng

26

SU-8 Photolithography
Process Conditions

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng
Jiangdong Deng, Soft-Lithography-summary-2-1-06-user-meeting-02, SLF at Harvard CNS

27

Photolithography (Talk 1) Fundamentals, Basic Process

Overview of Photolithography
Micro/Nano fabrication processes
Basic steps of photolithography

Fundamentals of photolithography
Photomask
UV exposure (light source, exposure optics, equipment)

**Photoresist and related processes

Lithography limits and Profile Control

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

28

Photoresist Basic
(Positive and Negative resist)
-Positive tone:
Exposure increases solubility
Low molecular-weight (<10,000) polymer
Pre-cross linked before exposure. exposure
weakens polymer by rupture or scission of polymer
chains
Mask image is same as wafer image
Typical Resist, Shipley 1800, AZ series

-Negative tone
Exposure decreases solubility
High molecular-weight (~65,000) polymer
Exposure causes cross-linking of polymer chains
Wafer image is opposite of mask image
Typical Resist, SU-8,
9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

29

Components of Conventional
Photoresist
Solvent:
gives resist its flow
characteristics
PGMEA (Propylene Glycol Methyl
Ether Acetate-C6H12O3)
Resin:
mix of polymers used as binder;
gives resist mechanical and
chemical properties
Sensitizers: (inhibitor, PAC)
photosensitive component of
the resist material
Additives:
chemicals that control specific
aspects of resist material
9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

30

Positive Photoresist
-(DNQ-novolak resist)
Resin in photoresist (positive)

W.S. Deforest, Photoressit, McGraw Hill (1975)

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

31

Photo Chemical Reaction in P-PR

(DNQ-novolak resist)

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

32

Photo Reaction in P-PR

(DNQ-novolak resist)
Photo Reaction in Positive resist

DiazoNaphtoQuinone
(DNQ)- sulfonate

Release N2,
absorpt H2O,

The position of SO3-R

determine the
photoreaction wavelength
(I,g,h line)
Lower solubility

9/26/2011

Indene Carboxylic Acid

Higher solubility (1000
times higher) in alkaline
than DNQsulfonate

Jiangdong Deng

33

Photo Recation in Negative PR

(KTFR resist)
KTFR Kodak Thin Film Resist,
-invented in 1957, dominated in the early years of semiconductor

Sensitizer,
-bis arylazide

Sensitizer reacts with light.

-Exposure
-releasing N2 and
-very active

Polymer(resin)-sensitizercross link
-Post exposure baking (PEB)
- Higher insolubility
Cyclized poly-isoprene

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

34

Photoresist Processes
UV Light

HMDS

Resist

Mask

1) Surface preparation

5) Post-exposure
bake (option)
9/26/2011

2) Spin coat

6) Develop

3) Soft bake

7) Hard bake
(option)

Jiangdong Deng

4) Alignment
and Exposure

8) Develop
inspect
35

Surface Preparation
Cleaning:
- Remove any contaminants on the wafers prior to photoresist coating
Dusts/particles, oil, residue, grease, wax
Cleaning approaches: solvent cleaning, TCA (1,1,1-trichloroethane), TCE
(trichloroethylene), Piranha cleaning (H2SO4 & H2O2), RCA (I, II), acidbased Nanostriper, O2 plasma

Dehydration:
remove water prior to priming and coating
200 C hotplate >5 min, or 15 min 80C oven

Priming:
form a polar (electrostatic) surface to isolate moisture adhesion on
wafer surface and
Increase the adhesion between wafers and photoresist coating layer
9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

36

Surface Preparation
-Surface Priming (1)
For Si, SiO2, and other dielectric material:
primers form bonds with surface and produce a polar
(electrostatic) surface
most are based upon siloxane linkages (Si-O-Si)
1,1,1,3,3,3-hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS), (CH3)3SiNHSi(CH3)3
trichlorophenylsilane (TCPS), C6H5SiCl3
bistrimethylsilylacetamide (BSA), (CH3)3SiNCH3COSi(CH3)3

For GaAs and other III-V materials:

GaAs already has a polar surface
monazoline C
trichlorobenzene
xylene

Priming approach:
1) Vapor coating (Industry)
2) Spin-coating (R&D, 2000rpm for 20s)
9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

37

Surface Preparation
-Surface Priming (2)
HMDS adhesion promotion on SiO2

Pre-HMDS

9/26/2011

Post-HMDS

Surface tension (dyne/cm)

H2O on surface (molecule/um^2)

78

>35

21
Jiangdong
Deng

<1

38

Photoresist Processes
UV Light

HMDS

Resist

Mask

1) Surface preparation

5) Post-exposure
bake (option)
9/26/2011

2) Spin coat

6) Develop

3) Soft bake

7) Hard bake
(option)

Jiangdong Deng

4) Alignment
and Exposure

8) Develop
inspect
39

PR Spin Coat
Process Summary:

Wafer is held onto vacuum chuck

Typical coating steps:

Photoresist
dispenser

Dispensing (low speed ~500rpm for

4-10s)
Level out (high speed-1000-to
5000rpm, 30-60s)

Quality measures:
thickness
uniformity
particles and defects

Speed

Vacuum chuck

Level out

dispensing

9/26/2011

Spin
down

To vacuum
pump

Time
Jiangdong Deng

Spindle
connected to
spin motor
40

SU-8 2000 Photoresist Spin Curve

Su-8 Spin Curve (MicroChem and CNS)

SU-8 Spin Curve (MicroChem and CNS-LISE)

45.00

350

40.00
35.00

2100-MicroChem

2015-MicroChem

Thickness (um)

Thickness (um)

2100-CNS

300
2015-CNS
2010-CNS

30.00

2010-MicroChem
25.00

2005-CNS
2005-MicroChem

20.00
15.00

2050-CNS

250

2050-MicroChem
2025-CNS

200

2025-MicroChem

150
100

10.00

50
5.00

0.00

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

500

Coating Speed (RPM)

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Coating Speed (RPM)

-Resist coating performance depends on:

a) Solvent Concentration, b) Speed control, c) Coating environment
(air flow, T, Huminity), d) surface conditions (adhesion, energy)

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

41

Photoresist Processes
UV Light

HMDS

Resist

Mask

1) Surface preparation

5) Post-exposure
bake (option)
9/26/2011

2) Spin coat

6) Develop

3) Soft bake

7) Hard bake
(option)

Jiangdong Deng

4) Alignment
and Exposure

8) Develop
inspect
42

Soft baking
Drives Off Most of Solvent in Photoresist
For positive resist, pre-crosslink happens between resin and sensitizer

Impacts to post fabrication processes

Photoresist-to-Wafer Adhesion
Thermal stress within PR-film
Resist Uniformity on Wafer
Etching rate and Linewidth Control During Development

Typical Bake Temperatures are 90 to 115C

Shipley 1800, 115C; SU-8, 65/95 C
Baking time (>2min) varies with the thickness
On a Hot Plate (better uniformity than oven baking)

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

43

Photoresist Processes
UV Light

HMDS

Resist

Mask

1) Surface preparation

5) Post-exposure
bake (option)
9/26/2011

2) Spin coat

6) Develop

3) Soft bake

7) Hard bake
(option)

Jiangdong Deng

4) Alignment
and Exposure

8) Develop
inspect
44

Post-Exposure Bake (PEB)

Required for negative PR (like SU-8), to ensure

cross-link in the resist
Typical Temperatures 90 to 110C on a hot
plate
SU-8, 65/95 C

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

45

Photoresist Processes
UV Light

HMDS

Resist

Mask

1) Surface preparation

5) Post-exposure
bake (option)
9/26/2011

2) Spin coat

6) Develop

3) Soft bake

7) Hard bake
(option)

Jiangdong Deng

4) Alignment
and Exposure

8) Develop
inspect
46

Photoresist Development
Process Summary:

Develop
dispenser

Soluble areas of photoresist

are dissolved by developer
chemical
Developer:
For Positive Resist
(Shipley 1800)
KOH (CD-351),
NaOH (CD-30), or
(CH3)4NOH (TMAH, CD-26,
MF319)
Time: 30-90s

For negative resist (SU-8)

PGMEA (SU-8 developer,
or BTS-220)
Time: 1-20min

9/26/2011

Vacuum chuck
To vacuum
pump

Spindle
connected to
spin motor

Spinning option ( bath option in CNS)

Jiangdong Deng

47

Photoresist Processes
UV Light

HMDS

Resist

Mask

1) Surface preparation

5) Post-exposure
bake (option)
9/26/2011

2) Spin coat

6) Develop

3) Soft bake

7) Hard bake
(option)

Jiangdong Deng

4) Alignment
and Exposure

8) Develop
inspect
48

Hard Bake
An Optional Post-Development Thermal Bake to
Evaporate Remaining Solvent
Stabilize and harden the developed photoresist

Impacts to the post processes

Improve Resist-to-Wafer Adhesion
Improve the resistance for dry or wet etching
Improve the edge roughness due to plastic flowing
Not easy to be removed, thus not good for lift-off process
May cause extra thermal stress

Higher Temperature than Soft Bake, for >5min

Shipley 1800, 140-160C
SU-8, 150C
9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

49

Photoresist Processes
UV Light

HMDS

Resist

Mask

1) Surface preparation

5) Post-exposure
bake (option)
9/26/2011

2) Spin coat

6) Develop

3) Soft bake

7) Hard bake
(option)

Jiangdong Deng

4) Alignment
and Exposure

8) Develop
inspect
50

Inspection
Resist liftoff

Inspect to Verify a Quality Pattern

Identify Quality Problems (Defects)
Characterize the Performance of the Photolithography Process
Prevents Passing Defects to Other Areas
Etch
Implant
Rework Mis-processed or Defective Resist-coated Wafers

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

51

Photolithography (Talk 1) Fundamentals, Basic Process

Overview of Photolithography
Micro/Nano fabrication processes
Basic steps of photolithography

Fundamentals of photolithography

- Photoresist and related processes

- Photomask
UV exposure (light source, exposure optics, equipment)

Resolution limits
9/26/2011
Pattern profile control
in Photolithography
Jiangdong Deng

52

Resolution Limit and Profile Control

Three Dimensional Pattern in Photoresist
Linewidth

Space
Photoresist

Thickness

Substrate

Criterias for good photolithography

- Line/space size
-Profile control
- Adhesion
-Sidewall roughness
- Uniformity
-Defects

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

- Etching resistance
- Surface tension
53

Exposure Systems
1:1 Exposure

1:1 Exposure

~5:1 Exposure

2b

Resolution (2b):
d,9/26/2011
the thickness of photoresist, s, the gap of Jiangdong
mask-resit,
k~3
Deng

K1,2 ~0.2-0.8

54

Photolithography-Diffraction
At smaller dimensions,
diffraction effects
dominate
If the aperture is on the
order of , the light
spreads out after passing
through the aperture. (The
smaller the aperture, the
more it spreads out.)

Photolithography-NA
-projection system
If we want to image the
aperture on an image
plane (resist), we can
collect the light using a
lens and focus it on the
image plane.
But the finite diameter
of the lens means some
information is lost
(higher spatial
frequency components).

NA-Numerical Aperture, represents

the light collected by the condenser
or objective lens

Photolithography-Diffraction
-projection system
Image formed by a small
circular aperture (Airy disk)
as an example
Image by a point source
forms a circle with diameter
1.22f/d surrounded by
diffraction rings (airy
pattern)

Photolithography-Diffraction
-projection system
Rayleigh suggested that a
reasonable criterion for
resolution (b = distance between
A and B) is that the central
maximum of one point source
lies at the first minimum of the
Airy pattern of the other point (b
= diameter of circle)
The numerical aperture (NA) of
a lens represents the ability of
the lens to collect diffracted light
and is given by NA = n sin in
this expression n is the index of
refraction of the medium
surrounding the lens and is the
acceptance angle of the lens ( n
= 1 for air)

Reyleigh Resolution:

b=

1.22f
1.22f
0.61
=
=
d
n(2 f sin )
NA

Practical resolution:

b = k1

NA

(0.25< k1 <0.8)

Photolithography Resolution
-projection system

bmin = k1

NA

Three ways to improve

resolution bmin
Reduce wavelength
Increase NA
Reduce k1

Electromagnetic Spectrum
Visible

Gamma rays X-rays

f (Hz)
(m)

22

20

10
10

-14

10
10

(nm)

157

i
g

18

10
10
-12

10
10

UV

-10

10
10

193

248

Infrared

16

10
10

-8

Microwaves

14

-6

12

-4

365

Radio waves

10

-2

405 436

VUV
h DUV

Common UV wavelengths used in optical lithography.

Decreasing feature sizes requires shorter .
9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

60

Wavelengths of Exposure
Sources
UV
Wavelength
(nm)

Wavelength
Name

UV Emission Source

Energy (eV)

436

g-line

Mercury arc lamp

2.84

405

h-line

Mercury arc lamp

3.1

365

i-line

3.4

248

Deep UV
(DUV)

Mercury arc lamp

Mercury arc lamp or
Krypton Fluoride (KrF)
excimer laser

193

Deep UV
(DUV)

Argon Fluoride (ArF) excimer

laser

157

Vacuum UV
(VUV)

Fluorine (F2) excimer laser

13.4

EUV (Extreme
UV, soft-X-ray)

Plasma from Xe gas excited by

high power laser

92.6

0.5

X-Ray

X-ray

2480

0.062

Electron

20 keV

0.012

Ion

100 keV

4.96
6.42
7.9

Decreasing feature sizes requires shorter .

9/26/2011

Jiangdong Deng

61

Photolithography-

Photolithography-NA
Increasing NA
Improvements in lens
design.
In the mid eighties,
NA ~0.4,
In 2000, for 248nm
exposure systems, NA
> 0.8.
Now, for 193nm (ArF
system), 0.93 is
possible in the air
Immerse into the high
index medium (n>1,
water n=1.47@193nm)

Photolithography-Immersion Litho

52nm in the air!

Photolithography-DOF
-projection system
DOF-Depth of Focus
The range over which there are clear optical images

DOF ~ 0.5
Lens

Center of focus

( NA) 2

Depth of focus
Photoresist

Film

365 nm
365 nm
193 nm
193 nm

0.45
0.60
0.45
0.60

R
486 nm
365 nm
257 nm
193 nm

Why need to meet DOF Requirement?

DOF
901 nm
507 nm
476 nm
268 nm

Photolithography-DOF

The defocus tolerance (DOF)

Much bigger issue in miniaturization

science than in ICs
A small aperture (NA) was used to ensure
the foreground stones were as sharp as the
ones in the distance.

What you need here is a use a telephoto

lens at its widest aperture.

How about contact/proximity system ?

1:1 Exposure

1:1 Exposure

~5:1 Exposure

2b

Resolution (2b):
d,9/26/2011
the thickness of photoresist, s, the gap of Jiangdong
mask-resit,
k~3
Deng

K1,2 ~0.2-0.8

67

Light Profile Comparisons of

three exposure modes

Contact/Proximity exposure: Fresnel diffraction (near-field)

Projection exposure:
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Frounhofer diffraction (far-filed)

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Light intensity profile

contact/proximity system

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Resolution Limit and Profile Control

Mask-resist Gap
Gap between mask and resist

Resolution for
Contact/proximity
exposure:

Theoretical Max. Resolution (um)

Resoulution for Contact/ Proximity Exposure

7

b = 1 .5 ( s + 0 .5 d ) = 1 .5 g

6
I-line, 365nm

Effective mask-resist gap:

H-line, 405nm
4

g = s + 0 .5 d

G-line, 435nm
3

d, the thickness of photoresist,

s, the gap of mask-resit,

2
1
0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Effective Mask-resist Gap (um)

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Resolution Limit and Profile Control

- PR Contrast (1)
Mask

Intensity

P-PR

Mask

N-PR

- , Photoresist Contrast.
- E0- disolusion dose, Ef- Resist sensitivity, 100% solution dose
- Ideal: a) E0 ~Ef step function, ~ , b) Ef small
- Reality, ~ 2-8

Exposure Dose (mW/cm2)= Lamp Intensity (mJ/cm2) x exposure time (s)

Resolution Limit and Profile Control

- PR Contrast (2)
Ideal Exposure - Ideal Resist

Real Exposure - Ideal Resist

mask

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Resolution Limit and Profile Control

- PR Contrast (3)
Real Exposure - Real Resist (positive)
mask
P-PR

N-PR

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D
Su-8-2025

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Resolution Limit and Profile Control

- Light Reflections Effects (1)
UV exposure light
Mask

Unexposed
photoresist

Edge
diffraction

Surface
reflection

Exposed
photoresist
Polysilicon

Notched photoresist

STI

STI
Substrate

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Resolution Limit and Profile Control

- Light Reflections Effects (2)
Trick:

Planarrization

Planarization

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Resolution Limit and Profile Control

- Standwave Effects

Incident wave
Reflected wave
Photoresist

Film
Substrate

Standing waves cause nonuniform exposure along the

thickness of the photoresist film.

Solution Trick: B-ARC (Bottom Anti-Reflection Coating)

polymer
type, dielectric multilayer76
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Resolution Limit and Profile Control

Summary
Challenge Photolitho process:
High resolution, with
High aspect ratio (>5:1), and
Dense patterns

Keys to good exposure

1)Right photoresist (type, contrast, thickness)
2)Right Dosage
Thickness, substrate, feature size and density
3)Good contact!!! (for contact/proximity system)
Uniform PR film, particle/defect control, pre-patterns,
right exposure contact control

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Photolithography Track System

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Automated Wafer Track for

Photolithography
Load station

Vapor
prime

Resist
coat

Develo Edge-bead
p and
removal
Rinse

Transfer
station

Wafer stepper
(Alignment/Exposure
system)

Wafer Transfer System

Soft
bake

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Cool
plate

Cool
plate

Hard
bake

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Step and Scan Exposure System

Illuminator
optics

Reticle library
(SMIF pod interface)

Excimer laser
(193 nm ArF )

Beam line

Wafer transport
system

Operator
console

Reticle stage

Wafer stage
Auto-alignment system
4:1 Reduction
lens
NA = 0.45 to 0.6
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