Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

Moritz Becker

Dirk Heinrich Ehm

Irene Ament

Stefan-Wolfgang Schmidt

Stefan Wiesner

Diana Urich

Ulrich Loering

Joachim Hartjes

Andreas Wurmbrand

Eric Eva

Vladimir Kamenov

Andrea Illiberi

Vitaliy Shklover

Kerstin Hild

Holger Kierey

Gisela Von Blanckenhagen

Edwin Te Sligte

Ralf Winter

Joern Weber

Christof Jalics

Stefan Wolfgang Schmidt

Robert Meier

Fred Roozeboom

Yves Lodewijk Maria Creijghton

Bjoern Liebaug

Simon Haas

A projection exposure apparatus () for semiconductor lithography has a device for determining the concentration of atomic hydrogen in a plasma () in the region of an optical element (), wherein the device includes a sensor (), In this case, the device includes a filter element () arranged between the region of the plasma () and the sensor (), wherein the filter element () is configured to predominantly allow the passage of atomic hydrogen from the plasma () to the sensor ().

Projection exposure apparatus having a device for determining the concentration of atomic hydrogen

A method for operating an EUV lithography apparatus () with at least one vacuum housing () for at least one reflective optical element () includes operating the EUV lithography apparatus in an exposure operating mode (B), in which EUV radiation () is radiated into the vacuum housing, wherein a reducing plasma is generated at a surface (a) of the reflective optical element in response to an interaction of the EUV radiation with a residual gas present in the vacuum housing. After an exposure pause, in which no EUV radiation is radiated into the vacuum housing, and before renewed operation of the EUV lithography apparatus in the exposure operating mode (B), the EUV lithography apparatus is operated in a recovery operating mode, in which oxidized contaminants at the surface of the reflective optical element are reduced in order to recover a transmission of the EUV lithography apparatus before the exposure pause.

Method for operating an EUV lithography apparatus, and EUV lithography apparatus

A method for operating an optical apparatus (A,B,), having a structural element () which is arranged in a residual gas atmosphere (RGA) of the apparatus and which is formed at least partly from an element material subjected to a chemical reduction process and/or an etching process with a plasma component (PK) present in the residual gas atmosphere includes: feeding (S) a gas component (GK) that at least partly suppresses the reduction process depending on a detected suppression extent (UM) for a suppression of the etching process and/or reduction process by the suppressing gas component in the residual gas atmosphere; and detecting (S) the suppression extent with a sensor unit () arranged in the residual gas atmosphere. The sensor unit includes a sensor material section () composed of a sensor material and exhibiting a sensor section property that is measurable under the influence of the suppressing gas component.

Method for operating an optical apparatus, and optical apparatus

A method for at least partially removing a contamination layer () from an optical surface () of an optical element () that reflects EUV radiation includes: performing an atomic layer etching process for at least partially removing the contamination layer () from the optical surface (), which, in turn, includes: exposing the contamination layer () to a surface-modifying reactant () in a surface modification step, and exposing the contamination layer () to a material-detaching reactant () in a material detachment step. The optical element () is typically taken, before the atomic layer etching process is performed, from an optical arrangement, in particular from an EUV lithography system, in which the optical surface () of the optical element () is exposed to EUV radiation (), during which the contamination layer () is formed.

Method for removing a contamination layer by an atomic layer etching process

An optical arrangement () for EUV radiation includes: at least one reflective optical element () having a main body () with a coating () that reflects EUV radiation (). At least one shield () is fitted to at least one surface region () of the main body () and protects the at least one surface region () against an etching effect of a plasma (H+, H*) that surrounds the reflective optical element () during operation of the optical arrangement (). A distance (A) between the shield () and the surface region () of the main body () is less than double the Debye length (&#x3bb;), preferably less than the Debye length (&#x3bb;), of the surrounding plasma (H+, H*).

Optical arrangement for EUV radiation with a shield for protection against the etching effect of a plasma

A projection exposure apparatus () for semiconductor lithography contains at least one partial volume () that is closed off from the surroundings. The partial volume () contains a gas, from which a plasma can be produced. Conditioning elements () for conditioning the plasma, in particular for neutralizing the plasma, are present in the partial volume. An associated method for operating a projection exposure apparatus is also disclosed.

Projection exposure system for semiconductor lithography, comprising elements for plasma conditioning

In order to prevent delamination of a reflective coating from the substrate under the influence of reactive hydrogen, a reflective optical element () for EUV lithography is provided, which has a substrate () and a reflective coating () for reflecting radiation in the wavelength range of 5 nm to 20 nm. A functional layer () is arranged between the reflective coating () and the substrate (). With the functional layer, the concentration of hydrogen in atom % at the side of the substrate facing the reflective coating is reduced by at least a factor of 2.

Reflective optical element for EUV lithography

The invention relates to a method for determining the thickness of a contaminating layer and/or the type of a contaminating material on a surface () in an optical system, in particular on a surface () in an EUV lithography system, comprising: irradiating the surface () on which plasmonic nanoparticles () are formed with measurement radiation (), detecting the measurement radiation () scattered at the plasmonic nanoparticles (), and determining the thickness of the contaminating layer and/or the type of the contaminating material on the basis of the detected measurement radiation (). The invention also relates to an optical element () for reflecting EUV radiation (), and to an EUV lithography system.

Method for determining the thickness of a contaminating layer and/or the type of contaminating material, optical element and EUV-lithography system

A reflective optical element, in particular for a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus has a substrate (), a reflection layer system () and a defect structure () of channel-shaped defects () which extend inward from the optical effective surface (), or from an interface oriented toward the substrate as far as the reflection layer system, and permit egress of hydrogen from the reflection layer system. The channel-shaped defects () increase a diffusion coefficient that is characteristic for the egress of the hydrogen from the reflection layer system () by at least 20%, in comparison to a similar layer construction without these channel-shaped defects.

Reflective optical element

A projection lens of a projection exposure apparatus, for imaging a mask which can be positioned in an object plane onto a light-sensitive layer which can be positioned in an image plane, includes a housing, in which at least one optical element is arranged, at least one partial housing which is arranged within said housing and which at least regionally surrounds light passing from the object plane as far as the image plane during the operation of the projection lens, and a reflective structure, which reduces a light proportion which reaches the image plane after reflection at the at least one partial housing, by comparison with an analogous arrangement without said reflective structure.

Growing community of inventors

Aalen, Germany

Moritz Becker