(LaNiO3)x(Ta2O5)1-x oxide thin films for attenuated phase-shifting mask blank

摘要

A feasibility of optical proximity effect correction (OPC) mask manufacturing with a state of the art mask fabrication processing and systems is demonstrated focusing on the 0.25 micrometer devices and 4X reticle generation. For realistic OPC mask fabrication, electron beam (EB) resist processing in terms of CD accuracy, mask defect inspection thoroughness and mask defect repair accuracy are studied in detail. For the positive resist process, EB proximity effect correction is applied in order to improve the linearity to meet required CD specifications. Based on such evaluation, practical criteria for OPC pattern generation are applied into an automatic OPC software. It is verified that by using the software with the criteria given, 0.25 micrometer memory device patterns can be corrected with a sufficient optical lithography imaging performance and a reasonable data volume. It is concluded that manufacturing feasibility of sufficiently effective OPC masks is verified as a result of concurrent development on the mask fabrication and automatic OPC software. Engineering tasks in the future are also proposed.