Simulation of optical constants range of high-transmittance attenuated phase-shifting masks used in KrF laser and ArF laser

Abstract

Phase-shifting masks (PSMs) have provided us a breakthrough in the future semiconductor industry by extending lithography further to the submicrometer order. PSMs have been used over the past several years, and their requirements have changed due to the development of semiconductor technology. We investigated high-transmittance attenuated PSMs (HT-Att-PSMs) that satisfy the requirements of 20 +/- 5% transmittance and 180 degrees phase shift at the exposure wavelength and less than 40% transmittance at the inspection wavelength. Regarding the wavelength, we targeted the inspection wavelength of 248 nm for ArF laser (exposure wavelength of 193 nm) HT-Att-PSM, and 365 nm for KrF laser (exposure wavelength of 248 nm) HT-Att-PSM. In this study, we developed refractive index-extinction coefficient-thickness (n-k-d) charts showing optimum optical constant ranges for HT-Att-PSM using the matrix method. The simulation was verified by comparing calculated transmittance data with measured ones.