EUV pellicle membranes are being pursued to protect scanner images from repeating defects caused by reticle fall-on particle defects. Because most materials highly absorb EUV, pellicle membranes must be ultrathin. In an attempt to increase the strength of the ultrathin membranes, grid-supported pellicle membranes have been proposed. In this study we compare grid-supported pellicles (GSP) over free-standing pellicles (FSP). We considered imaging, thermal, mechanical, and thermo-mechanical characteristics. Finite Element Methods (FEM) was used to investigate the thermal, and (thermo-)mechanical behavior of pellicles. The maximum temperature reached under operational conditions by the pellicle film was determined. Using a thermo-mechanical analysis wrinkling behavior was quantified. The mechanical analysis considered the influence of grid structures on the sagging behavior, on crack propagation, on the pellicle film resistance to collision with solid particles, and on the resistance to shocks on the pellicle frame. The analysis shows that GSP that meets imaging requirements will not bring any advantages over FSP.
As EUV approaches high volume manufacturing, reticle defectivity becomes an even more relevant topic for further investigation. Current baseline strategy for EUV defectivity management is to design, build and maintain a clean system without pellicle. In order to secure reticle front side particle adders to an acceptable level for high volume manufacturing, EUV pellicle is being actively investigated. Last year ASML reported on our initial EUV pellicle feasibility. In this paper, we will update on our progress since then. We will also provide an update to pellicle requirements published last year. Further, we present experimental results showing the viability and challenges of potential EUV pellicle materials, including, material properties, imaging capability, scalability and manufacturability.
EUV defectivity has been an important topic of investigation in past years. Today, the absence of a pellicle raises concerns for particle adders on reticle front side. A desire to improve defectivity on reticle front side via implementation of a pellicle could greatly assist in propelling EUV into high volume manufacturing. In this paper, we investigate a set of pellicle requirements and potential EUV pellicle materials. Further, we present experimental results of pellicle performance results and imaging results.
We have demonstrated all-epitaxially fabricated orientation-patterned AlGaAs waveguides with reduced waveguide core corrugation for the quasi-phase-matched second harmonic generation (SHG) pumped at 1.55 μm. The attenuation coefficient is measured to be ~4.5 dB/m at 1.55 μm, and ~9.7 dB/cm at 780 nm. The conversion efficiency at continuous wave operation is 43%W-1 with an 8-mm long waveguide.
For applications such as fiber optic networks, wavelength conversion, or extracting information from a predetermined channel, are required operations. All-optical systems, based on non-linear optical frequency conversion, offer advantages compared to present systems based on optical-electronic-optical (OEO) conversion. Thanks to the large nonlinear susceptibility of AlGaAs (d14 = 90pm/V) and mature device fabrication technologies, quasi-phasematched non-linear interactions in orientation-patterned AlGaAs waveguides for optical wavelength conversion have already been demonstrated. However, they require long interaction length (~ centimeters) and a complex fabrication process. Moreover, the conversion efficiency remains relatively low, due to losses and poor confinement. We present here the design and fabrication of a very compact (~ tens of microns long) device based on tightly confining waveguides and photonic crystal microcavities. Our device is inherently phase-matched due to the short length and should significantly increase the conversion efficiency due to tight confinement and high cavity-Q value. We characterized the waveguides, measuring the propagation loss by the Fabry-Perot method and by a variant of the cutback method, and both give a consistent loss value (~5 dB/mm for single-mode waveguides and ~3 dB/mm for multimode waveguide). We also characterized the microcavities measuring the transmission spectrum and the cavity-Q value, obtaining Q's as large as 700.
We present the design and fabrication process for an AlGaAs optical frequency conversion device based on tightly confining waveguides and a Photonic Bandgap Crystal Microcavity. We first theoretically analyze the improvement in non-linear conversion efficiency due to a high confinement cavity, compared to traditional QPM waveguides. The theoretical analysis is supported by finite difference frequency and time domain simulations. The theoretical conversion efficiency estimated with these tools is ~4%/mW for a device ~10 μm long. Influence of sidewall roughness on the Q of the cavity is also analyzed. Then, we describe the fabrication process of our device, which involves molecular beam epitaxy, electron beam lithography and plasma etching.
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