Illumination optimization for lithography tools ope matching at 28 nm nodes

Abstract

The CD (critical dimension) of large scale integrated circuit was dominated by lithography process. The 193 nm immersion lithography nowadays has been widely used in chip manufacturing at 28 nm nodes. With the application of Nikon 193 nm immersion lithography tools, it is significant to match the Nikon immersion with ASML through OPE (Optical Proximity Effect). Good scanner matching will be beneficial for extending Nikon 193 nm immersion lithography tools and effectively improving production efficiency. In this paper, based on the OPE research between Nikon immersion tool and ASML immersion tool, we have developed a set of matching method for both immersion tools at 28 nm node and realized the 28 nm lithography process transfer from ASML immersion tool to Nikon immersion tool.