Disruptive EUV Material Characterization in imec's AttoLab

Abstract

The introduction of EUV lithography into high-volume manufacturing in advanced logic foundries in 2019 has ensured the continual scaling of features in modern micro- and nanoeletronics, thus enabling faster, smaller, and more efficient computing architectures. To harness the power of EUV lithography, a concomitant evolution in the design of EUV materials (photoresists, mask materials, etc.) has taken place, resulting in novel material systems that possess non-trivial properties and chemistries. These disruptive materials require disruptive inspection and metrology techniques that can resolve the fundamental interactions and properties that ultimately determine their performance in lithographic processes and functioning devices. In order to address this materials characterization challenge, imec has recently installed and commissioned the AttoLab, a state-of-the-art ultrafast laser laboratory with cutting-edge spectro-microscopies for EUV and beyond materials. These techniques, largely centered around table-top EUV sources based on high-harmonic generation, serve as an advanced toolbox for interrogating the properties of novel material systems. In this talk, we will introduce imec’s AttoLab as well as provide an overview of current and future activities aimed at advanced material characterization via in-situ EUV spectro-microscopies.