Evaluation of a new X-ray stepper XRA

Abstract A new X-ray stepper XRA, which is equivalent to β-machine for proximity X-ray lithography (PXL), was installed at ASET Amagasaki-branch, and we have started the evaluation of its performance. The present alignment accuracy using global alignment method is 5.3±18.2 nm ( x ) and 3.8±30.5 nm ( y ). We evaluate the magnification correction function installed on XRA, and obtain a good linearity between the magnification and the applied force. By considering the dependence of the beam position and its size to the stored current, the critical dimension (CD) repeatability is improved from 15.5 to 5.5 nm (3 σ ).