Reflective mask for projection lithography operating at a wavelength of 13.5 nm

摘要

This work is devoted to the technology of mask manufacturing and investigation of the characteristics of the reflective mask employed in the extreme ultraviolet lithography test bench designed at the Institute for Physics of Microstructures, Russian Academy of Sciences. The mask's structure and composition have been optimized. The antireflecting (absorbing) coating and stop-layer materials that are used to etch the mask structure and the multilayer interference system, which reflects radiation at the operating wavelength, have been selected. The mask manufacturing technology is described. The measured reflective and geometrical characteristics of a mask (absorbing layer thicknesses, line widths, and line-edge roughnesses) are presented. A new direct method for certifying mask defects of 30 nm or more is proposed.