Lithography Simulator for Electon Beam/Deep UV Intra-Level Mix & Match

Abstract

We have developed an electron beam/deep UV (EB/DUV) intra-level mix & match (IL M&M) lithography simulator. In the simulator, for EB and DUV exposure pattern to be exposed in the same resist layer in IL M&M lithography process, (1) energy distributions deposited by the EB and the DUV exposures are calculated in respective simulators separately. (2) The two energy distributions are blurred respectively by the Gaussian convolution whose standard deviation is called a lithography process parameter, ΔL. (3) The two blurred energy distributions are superposed on each other. (4) Development calculation is performed. The propriety of these calculations was confirmed by contrast with a corresponding experiment. By demonstrating two examples of the application of the simulator, the simulator is shown to be a helpful tool for precognition of results obtained by applying the EB/DUV IL M&M lithography process. The simulator is essential for optimizing the various conditions in the EB/DUV IL M&M lithography.