Response of lithographic mask structures to intense repetitively pulsed x rays: Dynamic response analysis

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of the dynamic response of thin lithographic mask structures to thermally induced stress fields. In particular, the impact of repetitively pulsed x-ray sources are examined: the short duration (1–100 nsec) pulses induce large step changes in mask temperatures, which can, in turn, induce a dynamic response. The impact of conductive cooling of the mask is to reduce the repetitively pulsed problem to a series of isolated nearly identical thermal impulses of duration approximately equal to the cooling time. The importance of self-weight and prestress is examined, and an analysis of the nonlinear dynamic response to thermal impulses is described.