S. Muellender

Progress in Mo/Si multilayer coating technology for EUVL optics

Extensive optimization on the fabrication of Mo/Si multilayer systems is carried out at the FOM Institute Rijnhuizen using e-beam evaporation. The process is being optimized including parameters such as variation of the mirrors center wavelength, the metal fraction, deposition parameters, and the layer composition. Reflectivities of 69.5% are demonstrated at normal incidence, with values of 67 to 69% being routinely achieved, demonstrating the capabilities of the deposition process. Some evidence of smoothening to interface roughness values lower than the roughness of the initial substrate is given. Furthermore, investigation of the temporal behavior of the coatings does not indicate any loss of reflectivity over an eight-month period. An analysis of the multilayer composition and the interface roughness is given. The reflectivity measurements have been carried out at the PTB facilities at the electron storage rings BESSY I and BESSY II in Berlin. The results of measurements at both facilities are found to be identical and accuracy is discussed in detail.

Spectral properties of La/B--based multilayer mirrors near the boron K absorption edge.

The spectral properties of La/B, La/B(4)C, and LaN/B, LaN/B(4)C multilayer mirrors have been investigated in the 6.5-6.9 nm wavelength range based on measured B and B(4)C optical constants. Experimentally it is verified to what extent measured and tabulated optical constants are applicable for simulations of the reflectivity of these short period multilayer mirrors. The measured maximum reflectance at various wavelength values around the boron-K absorption edge is compared to calculated values from model systems. The measured reflectance profiles of La/B and La/B(4)C show a maximum at a slightly larger wavelength than calculations would predict based on the measured B and B(4)C optical constants. This is explained by the influence of a formed boron-lanthanum compound on the wavelength where the multilayer shows maximum reflectance. The maximum reflectance profiles of LaN/B and LaN/B(4)C multilayers can be described accurately by using the same boron atomic scattering factors, indicating boron in the LaN/B(4)C multilayer to be in a similar chemical state as boron in the LaN/B multilayer. It also indicates that nitridation of the La layer in the multilayer prevents the formation of La-B compounds. We show that the optimal wavelength for boron based optics is about 6.65 nm and depends on the B chemical state. Finally, using the measured B optical constants we are able to calculate the spectral response of the multilayers, enabling the prediction of the optimal parameters for the above mentioned multilayers.

Stress mitigation in Mo/Si multilayers for EUV lithography

Although Mo/Si multilayers are now widely used in EUV lithography development programs, multilayer induced substrate stress continues to be a major issue. Standard stress values of -350 to -450 MPa, reported for Mo/Si systems produced by magnetron sputtering, induce an intolerable deformation of the surface figure of EUV optical components. Stress in e-beam deposited Mo/Si multilayers has not been reported before. At FOM Rijnhuizen, an extensive stress mitigation program has been carried out on multilayers produced by e-beam deposition and medium energy ion polishing. The stress in our standard, high reflectance Mo/Si multilayers is less than -200 MPa. Although e-beam deposition apparently halves the typical stress values obtained by sputter deposition, it is still above the allowable limit for the first lithographic system, the so-called Alpha Tool. To further reduce stress, the influence of the Mo fraction, the number of periods and the multilayer period or d-spacing has been investigated. Varying the Molybdenum fraction in e-beam deposited multilayers results in a similar dependency as reported for magnetron sputtered coatings, though at strongly reduced absolute values. Furthermore, variation of the d-spacing has a small influence on stress. The number of periods however, has no influence on the stress value in the range from 20 to 50 periods. Applying stress mitigation techniques based on adjustment of the Mo fraction, a high reflectance of above 69% at near normal incidence at 13.5 nm has been obtained for multilayers with a stress value of only -33 MPa. This has been achieved by using Mo and Si only. This stress value is sufficiently low to enable the first generations of EUVL optics.

New laboratory EUV reflectometer for large optics using a laser plasma source

The quality assurance for production of optical components for EUV lithography strongly requires at-wavelength metrology. Presently, at-wavelength characterizations of mirrors and masks are done using the synchrotron radiation of electron storage rings, e.g. BESSY II. For the production process of EUV optics, however, the immediate access to metrology tools is necessary and availability of laboratory devices is mandatory. Within the last years a stand alone laboratory EUV reflectometer for large samples has been developed It consists of a laser produced plasma (LLP) radiation source, a monochromator and a large goniometer systme. The manipulation system of the reflectometer can handle samples with diameters of up to 500 mm, thicknesses of up to 200 mm and weights of up to 30 kg. The wavelength can be varied from 10 nm to 16 nm. The spot size on the sample surface is about 2mm. The angle of incidence can be varied from 3° to 60°. In this paper, we describe the laboratory reflectometer in detail and discuss the achieved performance. First measurements of 4 inch mirrors are presented and discussed in comparison to the results obtained at the PTB soft x-ray radiometry beamline at BESSY II.

Wavelength selection for multilayer coatings for lithography generation beyond extreme ultraviolet

Abstract. The spectral properties of LaN/B and LaN/B4C multilayer mirrors have been investigated in the 6.5 to 6.9 nm wavelength range, based on measured B and B4C optical constants. We show that the wavelength of optimal reflectance for boron-based optics is between 6.63 and 6.65 nm, depending on the boron chemical state. The wavelength of the maximum reflectance of the LaN/B4C multilayer system is confirmed experimentally. Calculations of the wavelength-integrated reflectance for perfect ten-multilayer-mirror stacks show that a B-based optical column can be optimized for a wavelength larger than 6.65 nm.

Multilayer coatings for the EUVL Process Development Tool

Reported is a summary of the coating of three elements of the illuminator and three of the projection optics of the EUVL Process Development Tool. The coating process used is e-beam evaporation in combination with low energy ion beam smoothening. The reflectance of the coatings, which are covered with a special protective capping layer, is typically around 65% and the non correctable figure error that is added by the full multilayer stack is controlled to better than 15 picometer.

Subatomic accuracy in EUVL multilayer coatings

Reported is the production of multilayer EUV coatings on 25000 mm2 large mirror substrates using e-beam based deposition. The accuracy achieved over the full area and the full multilayer stack amounts to an added figure error of 0.02 nm, i.e. in the sub-atomic distance range, thus meeting the future requirements on EUV coating technology.

Bufferlayer and caplayer engineering of Mo/Si EUVL multilayer mirrors

Bufferlayer and caplayer engineering strategies are getting progressively important for improving crucial properties of EUVL multilayer optics and EUV reflection masks. While bufferlayers modifying the contact between the reflecting interference multilayer and the superpolished substrate aim for a partial smoothing of the residual substrate roughness or for a mitigation of local substrate defects as well as for multilayer film stress relaxation, surface caplayers are capable to enhance the multilayer reflectivity of EUV mirrors and masks. We present experimental results on various bufferlayer systems (singlelayer and multilayer) applied to different substrate materials (ULE, Zerodur, silicon). The bufferlayers have been deposited by e-beam evaporation and ion-polishing techniques at UHV conditions and substrates with and without bufferlayer have been coated with standard Mo/Si multilayers (50 doublelayers, d-spacing 6.8 nm) in the same deposition run. The samples have been analyzed exsitu by means of AFM, TEM, X-ray scattering and reflection and normal-incidence EUV reflectance measurements. We have found significant improvement (+ 0.7 %) of the Mo/Si multilayer EUV reflectivity for some bufferlayer systems applied to substrates with 0.2 - 0.3 nm r.m.s. high spatial frequency roughness (HSFR), while no effect was found on superpolished substrates exhibiting 0.1 nm r.m.s HSFR. The effect of caplayer modification applied to Mo/Si multilayers has been examined regarding EUV reflectivity. The native siliconoxide layer on top of the Mo/Si multilayer coatings has been replaced by an ultrathin (2 nm) chemically inert caplayer. We have found a 1 % - 1.5 % improvement in EUV peak reflectance for one cap material applied to several Mo/Si multilayer in comparison to a native siliconoxide cap.