Resist heating effect on e-beam mask writing at 75 kV and 60 A/cm<sup>2</sup>

Zdenek Benes; Christina Deverich; Chester Huang; Mark Lawliss

doi:10.1117/12.517513

17 December 2003 Resist heating effect on e-beam mask writing at 75 kV and 60 A/cm²

Zdenek Benes, Christina Deverich, Chester Huang, Mark Lawliss

Proceedings Volume 5256, 23rd Annual BACUS Symposium on Photomask Technology; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.517513
Event: Photomask Technology, 2003, Monterey, California, United States

Abstract

Resist heating has been known to be one of the main contributors to local CD variation in mask patterning using variable shape e-beam tools. Increasingly complex mask patterns require increased number of shapes which drives the need for higher electron beam current densities to maintain reasonable write times. As beam current density is increased, CD error resulting from resist heating may become a dominating contributor to local CD variations. In this experimental study, the IBM EL4+ mask writer with high voltage and high current density has been used to quantitatively investigate the effect of resist heating on the local CD uniformity. ZEP 7000 and several chemically amplified resists have been evaluated under various exposure conditions (single-pass, multi-pass, variable spot size) and pattern densities. Patterns were designed specifically to allow easy measurement of local CD variations with write strategies designed to maximize the effect of resist heating. Local CD variations as high as 15 nm in 18.75 × 18.75 μm sub-field size have been observed for ZEP 7000 in a single-pass writing with full 1000 nm spots at 50% pattern density. This number can be reduced by increasing the number of passes or by decreasing the maximum spot size. The local CD variation has been reduced to as low as 2 nm for ZEP 7000 for the same pattern under modified exposure conditions. The effectiveness of various writing strategies is discussed as well as their possible deficiencies. Minimal or no resist heating effects have been observed for the chemically amplified resists studied. The results suggest that the resist heating effect can be well controlled by careful selection of the resist/process system and/or writing strategy and that resist heating does not have to pose a problem for high throughput e-beam mask making that requires high voltage and high current densities.

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Zdenek Benes, Christina Deverich, Chester Huang, and Mark Lawliss "Resist heating effect on e-beam mask writing at 75 kV and 60 A/cm²", Proc. SPIE 5256, 23rd Annual BACUS Symposium on Photomask Technology, (17 December 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.517513

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KEYWORDS

Critical dimension metrology

Chemically amplified resists

Cadmium

Scanning electron microscopy

Electron beam lithography

Mask making

Photomasks

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