Although wavefront aberration in stepper projection optics has been classified with respect to its spatial frequency on the pupil, the physical meaning of this classification has not been clarified. In this paper, we show that wavefront aberration can be classified into figure aberration, random aberration, and nonconserved aberration, by taking into consideration the theoretical effect of undulated wavefront aberration with respect to its spatial frequency. We also show that the predictions of this theoretical classification coincide with both the results of numerical simulations for random aberration and the experimentally measured values of local flare size. Since our classification has a clear physical meaning, it will be valuable and applicable in developing not only stepper projection optics but also other more general optics.
We have already revealed that wavefront aberration can be categorized into figure and random aberrations and also concluded that the phenomenon of local flare can be explained by the concept of random aberration [1]. In this report, considering the finer undulation of wavefront aberration, we introduce the new concept of non-conserved wavefront aberration. Considering these classified aberrations, we discuss the flare.
Recently, in optical lithography, extremely small wavefront aberration has been required and the fine undulation of wave aberration has been aggressively discussed. Since CD(pattern width) variation of image depends on the local Cr density of mask, it has been regarded that the fine undulation of wavefront aberration scatters or diffracts light and causes local flare. However we think that the physical origin of local flare and the definition of fine undulation are not so clear. In this paper, we categorize wavefront aberration into figure aberration and random aberration. Therefore the concept of random aberration is useful to not only understand the local flare but also evaluate the fine undulation of wavefront aberration.
Recently, it has shown that Rayleigh diffraction limit (a size λ/2) is overcome using entangled-photon pairs, where λ is the optical wavelength. However, the intensity of the entangled-photon pairs generated from optical parametric down-conversion are so weak that it is not enough to attain the practical throughput. We propose a new method which enables to enhance the resolution over the Rayleigh limit with coherent laser light by using polarization-dependent two-photon absorption resist.
Recently, a novel Resolution Enhancement Technology (RET) have been proposed to overcome the Rayleigh resolution limit by using both entangled photon pair and two-photon absorption resist. However, the illumination intensity is not enough to attain the reasonable throughput. We propose a new method which enables to enhance the resolution over the Rayleigh limit with more strong intensity source by using two-photon absorption resist, where the absorbed two photons have different polarization each other. Since it is recently reported that the stimulated emission of polarization-entangled photons has been achieved, we investigate the effect of such entangled four photons to the resolution enhancement instead of entangled photon pair. Moreover, we also study the application of two-mode squeezing state.
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