Study of program defects of 22nm nanoimprint template with an advanced e-beam inspection system

Abstract

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a candidate of alternative, low cost of ownership lithography solution for deep nano-meter device manufacturing12. For the NIL template pattern making, we have been developing the processes with 100keV SB EB writer and 50keV VSB EB writer to achieve the fine resolution of near 20nm1-7. However, inspection of nanoimprint template posed a big challenge to inspection system due to the small geometry, 1x comparing to 4x of Optical mask and EUV mask. Previous studies of nanoimprint template inspection were performed indirectly on a stamped wafer and/or on a round quartz wafer13. Electron beam inspection (EBI) systems have been widely used in semiconductor fabs in nanometer technology nodes. Most commonly EBI applications are electrical defects, or voltage contrast (VC) defects detection and monitoring8-11. In this study, we used a mask EBI system developed by Hermes Microvision, Inc. (HMI) to directly inspect a NIL template with line/space and hole patterns half pitched from 22nm to 90nm and with program defects sized from 4nm to 92nm. Capability of inspection with 10nm pixel size has been demonstrated and capability of capturing program defects sized 12nm and smaller has been shown. This study proved the feasibility of EBI as inspection solution of nanoimprint template for 22nmHP and beyond.