Controlled deposition of SiO2 nanoparticles of NIST-traceable particle sizes for mask surface inspection system characterization

Se Jin Yook, Heinz Fissan, Thomas Engelke, Christof Asbach, Till Van Der Zwaag, Jung Hyeun Kim, Florence Eschbach, Jing Wang, David Y.H. Pui

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Particulate contamination of masks is a serious challenge in extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) technology due to the unavailability of conventional pellicles. EUVL mask surface inspection tools, operated at low pressure, are used not only for mask contamination control/monitoring but also for mask surface cleaning studies. In EUVL, contaminant particles can be generated during low-pressure stages of integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing and may contaminate the mask critical surface without protective pellicles. It is therefore needed to characterize the EUVL mask surface inspection tools with contaminants commonly seen in vacuum processes. We have developed a method to deposit particles of known material and NIST-traceable sizes on the mask surface for the purpose of calibrating the EUVL mask surface inspection tools. Our method can produce particles with 98% size-uniformity. SiO2 particles with NIST-traceable sizes of 50 nm, 60 nm, and 70 nm were separately deposited on quartz mask blanks with a controlled deposition spot size and number density, and detected by a Lasertec M1350 mask surface scanner. The results demonstrate high capture efficiencies for 60 and 70 nm SiO2 particles, and significantly lower capture efficiency for 50 nm SiO2 particles. The sizing accuracy of Lasertec M1350 deteriorates with decreasing particle size.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number4512067
Pages (from-to)238-243
Number of pages6
JournalIEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing
Volume21
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2008

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Manuscript received August 2, 2007; revised February 13, 2008. This work was supported by Intel Corporation. S.-J. Yook is with the School of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea. H. Fissan, T. Engelke, C. Asbach, and T. van der Zwaag are with the Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology e.V. (IUTA), 47229 Duisburg, Germany. J. H. Kim is with the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Seoul, Seoul 130-743, Korea. F. Eschbach is with the Intel Mask Operations, Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA 95054 USA. J. Wang and D. Y. H. Pui are with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA (e-mail: dyhpui@umn. edu). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TSM.2008.2000266

Keywords

  • Monodisperse particle generation
  • NIST-traceable particle size
  • Nanoparticles
  • Particle deposition on masks
  • SiO particles

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