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84nm pitch demonstrated by SEMATECH using azimuthal polarization |
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Oct 05, 2006 at 04:51 PM |
 SEMATECH North, located within the Albany NanoTech complex, has demonstrated single line pitches of 84nm using Exitech's immersion projection microstepper with 1.3 NA in combination with OPC and other RET techniques.
The milestone was announced during the 3rd International Symposium on
Immersion Lithography. For 1.3 NA imaging, this is the only OPC model
to have been validated against experimental results, according to
SEMATECH.
"Imaging at 84nm pitch provides SEMATECH members with patterning capability beyond anything they are able to obtain on projection exposure tools today," said Andrew Grenville, associate director of SEMATECH's Lithography Division.
"Semiconductor circuit designs contain complex patterns beyond simple line-and-space resolution gratings," said Grenville. "With this toolset, we are demonstrating feasibility that 193i can be used for 45nm half-pitch manufacturing." Lithography Director Michael Lercel added: "This isn't a beauty pageant; we are trying to image real, relevant circuit patterns here."
Grenville said the SEMATECH team also employed resist stack optimization of dual-layer bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC) systems in combination with OPC and RET strategies to reach the 45nm milestone. Experimenters selectively rotated linearpolarized light at the coherence aperture to simultaneously image the sub-45 nm features.
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Lithography 
