University of California

Other

Euv Limited Liability Corporation

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC

Euv Llc.

Henry N Chapman

Donald W Sweeney

John S Taylor

Stefan Hau-Riege

Keith A Nugent

David R Shafer

Russell M Hudyma

Daniel G Stearns

Paul B Mirkarimi

Sasa C Bajt

Richard A London

Eberhard A Spiller

Abraham Szoke

Stefano Marchesini

A system in one embodiment includes a source for directing a beam of radiation at a sample; a multilayer mirror having a face oriented at an angle of less than 90 degrees from an axis of the beam from the source, the mirror reflecting at least a portion of the radiation after the beam encounters a sample; and a pixellated detector for detecting radiation reflected by the mirror. A method in a further embodiment includes directing a beam of radiation at a sample; reflecting at least some of the radiation diffracted by the sample; not reflecting at least a majority of the radiation that is not diffracted by the sample; and detecting at least some of the reflected radiation. A method in yet another embodiment includes directing a beam of radiation at a sample; reflecting at least some of the radiation diffracted by the sample using a multilayer mirror; and detecting at least some of the reflected radiation.

Area X-ray or UV camera system for high-intensity beams

A process is provided for producing near-perfect optical surfaces, for EUV and soft-x-ray optics. The method involves polishing or otherwise figuring the multilayer coating that has been deposited on an optical substrate, in order to correct for errors in the figure of the substrate and coating. A method such as ion-beam milling is used to remove material from the multilayer coating by an amount that varies in a specified way across the substrate. The phase of the EUV light that is reflected from the multilayer will be affected by the amount of multilayer material removed, but this effect will be reduced by a factor of 1&#x2212;n as compared with height variations of the substrate, where n is the average refractive index of the multilayer.

Figure correction of multilayer coated optics

A system for x-ray imaging of a small sample comprising positioning a tamper so that it is operatively connected to the sample, directing short intense x-ray pulses onto the tamper and the sample, and detecting an image from the sample. The tamper delays the explosive motion of the sample during irradiation by the short intense x-ray pulses, thereby extending the time to obtain an x-ray image of the original structure of the sample.

Tamper to delay motion and decrease ionization of a sample during short pulse x-ray imaging

An asymmetric-cut multilayer diffracts EUV light. A multilayer cut at an angle has the same properties as a blazed grating, and has been demonstrated to have near-perfect performance. Instead of having to nano-fabricate a grating structure with imperfections no greater than several tens of nanometers, a thick multilayer is grown on a substrate and then cut at an inclined angle using coarse and inexpensive methods. Effective grating periods can be produced this way that are 10 to 100 times smaller than those produced today, and the diffraction efficiency of these asymmetric multilayers is higher than conventional gratings. Besides their ease of manufacture, the use of an asymmetric multilayer as a spectral purity filter does not require that the design of an EUV optical system be modified in any way, unlike the proposed use of blazed gratings for such systems.

High-efficiency spectral purity filter for EUV lithography

A method and apparatus are provided for the repair of an amplitude defect in a multilayer coating. A significant number of layers underneath the amplitude defect are undamaged. The repair technique restores the local reflectivity of the coating by physically removing the defect and leaving a wide, shallow crater that exposes the underlying intact layers. The particle, pit or scratch is first removed the remaining damaged region is etched away without disturbing the intact underlying layers.

Method to repair localized amplitude defects in a EUV lithography mask blank

A method is disclosed for the implementation of phase shifting masks for EUV lithography. The method involves directly etching material away from the multilayer coating of the mask, to cause a refractive phase shift in the mask. By etching into the multilayer (for example, by reactive ion etching), rather than depositing extra material on the top of the multilayer, there will be minimal absorption loss associated with the phase shift.

Etched-multilayer phase shifting masks for EUV lithography

A condenser for use with a ring-field deep ultraviolet or extreme ultraviolet lithography system. A condenser includes a ripple-plate mirror which is illuminated by a collimated or converging beam at grazing incidence. The ripple plate comprises a flat or curved plate mirror into which is formed a series of channels along an axis of the mirror to produce a series of concave surfaces in an undulating pattern. Light incident along the channels of the mirror is reflected onto a series of cones. The distribution of slopes on the ripple plate leads to a distribution of angles of reflection of the incident beam. This distribution has the form of an arc, with the extremes of the arc given by the greatest slope in the ripple plate. An imaging mirror focuses this distribution to a ring-field arc at the mask plane.

Condenser for ring-field deep ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet lithography

A track assembly for a skid steer type wheeled vehicle comprises a series of identical track segments, with each of the segments having a wheel or tire retaining flange depending from opposite ends thereof. Each flange has a pair of connecting lugs or tongues extending in one direction (e.g., in the direction of travel), with a single connecting lug extending in the opposite direction. Each lug or tongue pair is positioned to sandwich an opposing single lug or tongue therebetween from an adjacent track segment. Thus, each of the segments connects directly to another identical segment, with no intermediate connecting links being required. The interconnecting lugs or tongues extend straight from their respective flanges with no lateral offset, thus precluding any bending loads upon the lugs and producing a pure shear force across each connecting bolt or pin. The lugs or tongues are preferably hardened for greater durability, with the assembly including bushings for greater bearing area. The connecting pins are preferably threaded bolts secured in place by cooperating nuts. The cleats of the present track segments are configured to provide a self cleaning action when the vehicle is in motion, with the facing cleat extensions of each track segment capturing mud and other debris therebetween to act as a shoe or pad, thus reducing wear of the present track assembly.

Track assembly for a wheeled vehicle

A condenser for use with a ring-field deep ultraviolet or extreme ultraviolet lithography system. A condenser includes a ripple-plate mirror which is illuminated by a collimated beam at grazing incidence. The ripple plate comprises a plate mirror into which is formed a series of channels along an axis of the mirror to produce a series of concave surfaces in an undulating pattern. Light incident along the channels of the mirror is reflected onto a series of cones. The distribution of slopes on the ripple plate leads to a distribution of angles of reflection of the incident beam. This distribution has the form of an arc, with the extremes of the arc given by the greatest slope in the ripple plate. An imaging mirror focuses this distribution to a ring-field arc at the mask plane.

Condenser for ring-field deep-ultraviolet and extreme-ultraviolet lithography

A deformable mirror compatible with short wavelength (extreme ultraviolet) radiation that can be precisely controlled to nanometer and subnanometer accuracy is described. Actuators are coupled between a reaction plate and a face plate which has a reflective coating. A control system adjusts the voltage supplied to the actuators; by coordinating the voltages supplied to the actuators, the reflective surface of the mirror can be deformed to correct for dimensional errors in the mirror or to produce a desired contour.

Deformable mirror for short wavelength applications

An optical system compatible with short wavelength (extreme ultraviolet) An optical system compatible with short wavelength (extreme ultraviolet) radiation comprising four reflective elements for projecting a mask image onto a substrate. The four optical elements comprise, in order from object to image, convex, concave, convex and concave mirrors. The optical system is particularly suited for step and scan lithography methods. The invention enables the use of larger slit dimensions associated with ring field scanning optics, improves wafer throughput and allows higher semiconductor device density. The inventive optical system is characterized by reduced dynamic distortion because the static distortion is balanced across the slit width.

Growing community of inventors

Livermore, CA, United States of America

Henry N Chapman