Methodology for determining CD-SEM measurement condition of sub-20nm resist patterns for 0.33NA EUV lithography

Abstract

A novel methodology was established for determining critical dimension scanning electron microscope (CD-SEM) optimum measurement condition of sub-20 nm resist patterns for 0.33NA EUV lithography yielding both small shrinkage and high precision. To investigate dependency of resist shrinkage on pattern size and electron beam irradiation condition, shrinkage of 18, 32, and 45 nm EUV resist patterns was measured over a wide range of beam conditions. A shrinkage trend similar to that of ArF resist patterns was observed for 32 and 45 nm, but 18 nm pattern showed a different dependence on acceleration voltage. Conventional methodology developed for ArF resist pattern to predict shrinkage and precision using the Taguchi method was applied to EUV resist pattern to examine the extendibility of the method. Predicted shrinkage by Taguchi method for 32 and 45 nm patterns agreed with measurements. However, the prediction error increases considerably as the pattern size decreases from 32 to 18 nm because there is a significant interaction between acceleration voltage and irradiated electron dose in L18 array used in the Taguchi method. Thus, we proposed a new method that consists of separated prediction procedures of shrinkage and precision using both a shrinkage curve and the Taguchi method, respectively. The new method was applied to 18 nm EUV resist pattern, and the optimum measurement condition with shrinkage of 1.5 nm and precision of 0.12 nm was determined. Our new method is a versatile technique which is applicable not only to fine EUV resist pattern but also to ArF resist pattern.