Modern lithographic simulation engines1 are quite capable of determining the detrimental impact of source and lens
aberrations on low k1 lithographic metrics - given the proper input2. Circuit designers, lithographic engineers, and
manufacturing facilities would seem to be the beneficiaries of the predictive power of lithographic simulators; however,
in-situ methods for accurately determining lens aberrations and source metrology maps have only rather recently been
accepted3 and integrated into practice4. For this work, we introduce several new methods for characterizing scanner
performance including a high accuracy source metrology tool and integrated simulation engine5. We focus attention on
the combined detrimental effects of lens aberrations, source non-ideality, distortion, synchronization error, and transmission error on deep sub-wavelength lithographic metrics such as: H-V bias, feature-shift, and ΔCD. After a brief theoretical discussion, we describe a matrix of simulation case studies and present results. Finally, we discuss potential applications for the simulation performance framework and its potential impact to industry.
© (2005) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
