Deep Ultraviolet Optics Research Articles

Aberration analysis and compensate method of fully connected neural network in deep ultraviolet lithography

Thermal aberration of a projection lens is caused by lens heating and leads to degradation of image quality. Two tasks have been undertaken in this article: first, analysis of the impact of single aberration on imaging quality, and second, use of machine learning to calculate the combination of Zernike aberration coefficients to reduce the influence of aberration on the process window. The impact of aberration on deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography imaging has been analyzed separately for 16 Zernike terms. The influence of single Zernike coefficient on depth of focus, mask error enhancement factor, and image log slope is comprehensively analyzed by source mask optimization. However, more than one Zernike term is present in the aberration of a real DUV optics. A fully connected neural network (FCNN) model based on machine learning is widely used in the screening of multivariate experiments and can solve the problem of the large number of input variables and the random values of the input data. Its network structure is simple to debug, with fast screening speed and high precision. To make reasonable budget for aberration, an FCNN model is used to find some combinations of Zernike coefficients for different lithographic performance indicators. This implies that the FCNN model has the ability to select a better Zernike combination while each individual Zernike term value falls in the range of −30 to 30 mλ, which plays a guiding role in DUV optics design.

Aluminum oxyfluoride films for deep ultraviolet optics deposited by a combined HIPIMS/CFUBMS deposition technique

Aluminum oxyfluoride films were deposited by a combined HIPIMS/CFUBMS deposition technique with Al targets at room temperature. In order to obtain better optical and mechanical properties, films were investigated under different duty cycles and CF4 gas flow rates. The optical properties in deep ultraviolet range, microstructure, surface roughness, and crystalline structure of aluminum oxyfluoride films have been studied. The aluminum oxyfluoride films deposited with 45/255 duty cycle and 0.8 sccm CF4 had the lowest extinction coefficient (8 × 10−4) and the highest refractive index (1.72) at 193 nm. Additionally, aluminum oxyfluoride films revealed a dense and amorphous structure with 0.155 nm surface roughness.

Orthonormal polynomials describing polarization aberration for M-fold optical systems

Polarization aberration (PA) is a serious issue that affects imaging quality for optical systems with high numerical aperture. Numerous studies have focused on the distribution rule of PA on the pupil, but the field remains poorly studied. We previously developed an orthonormal set of polynomials to reveal the pupil and field dependences of PA in rotationally symmetric optical systems. However, factors, such as intrinsic birefringence of cubic crystalline material in deep ultraviolet optics and tolerance, break the rotational symmetry of PA. In this paper, we extend the polynomials from rotationally symmetric to M-fold to describe the PA of M-fold optical systems. Two examples are presented to verify the polynomials.

Antireflection coatings for deep ultraviolet optics deposited by magnetron sputtering from Al targets

We introduce an innovative technique for the deposition of fluorine doped oxide (F:Al(2)O(3)) films by DC pulse magnetron sputtering from aluminum targets at room temperature. There was almost no change in transmittance even after the film was exposed to air for two weeks. Its refractive index was around 1.69 and the extinction coefficient was smaller than 1.9 × 10(-4) at 193 nm. An AlF(3)/F:Al(2)O(3) antireflection coating was deposited on both sides of a quartz substrate. A high transmittance of 99.32% was attained at the 193 nm wavelength. The cross-sectional morphology showed that the surface of the multilayer films was smooth and there were no columnar or porous structures.

Fluoride antireflection coatings for deep ultraviolet optics deposited by ion-beam sputtering

Optically high quality coatings of fluoride materials are required in deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography. We have applied ion-beam sputtering (IBS) to obtain fluoride films with smooth surfaces. The extinction coefficients were of the order of 10(-4) at the wavelength of 193 nm due to the reduction of their absorption loss. The transmittance of the MgF2/GdF3 antireflection coating was as high as 99.7% at the wavelength of 193 nm. The surfaces of the IBS deposited films were so smooth that the surface roughness of the A1F3/GdF3 film was comparable with that of the CaF2 substrate. The MgF2/GdF3 coating fulfilled the temperature and humidity requirements of military specification. Thus, the IBS deposited fluoride films are promising candidate for use in the DUV lithography optics.

High-performance deep-ultraviolet optics for free-electron lasers.

Working with wavelengths shorter than the deep ultraviolet involves the development of dedicated optics for free-electron lasers with devoted coating techniques and characterizations. High-performance deep-ultraviolet optics are specially developed to create low-loss, high-reflectivity dielectric mirrors with long lifetimes in harsh synchrotron radiation environments. In February 2001, lasing at 189.7 nm, the shortest wavelength obtained so far with free-electron-laser oscillators, was obtained at the European Free-electron-laser project at ELETTRA Synchrotron Light Laboratory, Trieste, Italy. In July 2001, 330-mW extracted power at 250 nm was measured with optimized transmission mirrors. Research and development of coatings correlated to lasing performance are reported.