EUV Lithography at Threshold of High-Volume Manufacturing

A throughput of >140 wph at a dose of 20 mJ/cm
²
has been achieved on NXE:3400B EUV exposure systems, using a source power of 250W. Power degradation rate has been concurrently driven down so that high system throughput can be maintained. Improvement in mask-area cleanliness has resulted in over 2,000 exposures per fall-on particle, and solid progress on the pellicle has enabled it to provide an EUV transmission of 83% at high source power. ASML continues to improve the performance of EUV scanners with higher throughput and tighter overlay specifications to further enhance their productivity and capability. Further improvements in resist and mask absorber materials are required to extend EUV single patterning to low
$\boldsymbol{k}_{1}$
. ASML has also started to develop a next-generation
$\boldsymbol{N}\boldsymbol{A}=0 \mathbf{EUV}$
exposure tool to enable continued scaling in semiconductor manufacturing.