Date of Award

1-1-2015

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Nanoscale Science and Engineering

Program

Nanoscale Sciences

Content Description

1 online resource (viii, 207 pages) : color illustrations.

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Gregory Denbeaux

Committee Members

Vibhu Jindal, John Hartley, Michael Carpenter, Magnus Bergkvist

Keywords

Computational Fluid dynamics, EUV, Nanoparticle adhesion, Nanoparticle bounce, Particles, Semiconductors, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Semiconductor nanoparticles, Vacuum technology, Scanning electron microscopy, Photoresists

Subject Categories

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Abstract

Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) is the most likely candidate as the next generation technology beyond immersion lithography to be used in high volume manufacturing in the semiconductor industry. One of the most problematic areas in the development process is the fabrication of mask blanks used in EUVL. As the masks are reflective, there is a chance that any surface aberrations in the form of bumps or pits could be printed on the silicon wafers. There is a strict tolerance to the number density of such defects on the mask that can be used in the final printing process. Bumps on the surface could be formed when particles land on the mask blank surface during the deposition of multiple bi-layers of molybdenum and silicon. To identify, and possibly mitigate the source of particles during mask fabrication, SEMATECH investigated particle generation in the VEECO Nexus deposition tool. They found several sources of particles inside the tool such as valves. To quantify the particle generation from vacuum components, a test bench suitable for evaluating particle generation in the sub-100 nm particle size range was needed.

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