EUV multilayer defect compensation (MDC): latest progress on model and compensation methods

Making a multilayer defect-free extreme ultraviolet (EUV) blank is not possible today, and is unlikely to happen in the next few years. The method proposed by Luminescent is to compensate effects of multilayer defects on images by modifying the absorber patterns. Progress in MDC is the subject of this paper. The multilayer growth model was calibrated using real data - the top layer profile captured by AFM and cross section captured by TEM for programmed defects. Multilayer defect profiles on repair sites were recovered by applying inverse methods with the calibrated model to AFM surface scans. The recovered defect profiles were fed into the MDC engine to calculate modified absorber patterns that would compensate for the defects. Further, new methods to compensate for phase errors by depositing materials or peeling multilayers in addition to absorber modifications have been developed. Different options of multilayer peeling for compensating phase error are also evaluated through simulation. A case study was performed to find out what is the maximum pit and bump defects that can be compensated by all options available. It shows absorber pattern modification plus material deposition is the most effective option for pit defect, while absorber pattern modification plus layer-by-layer multilayer peeling is the most effective option for bump defect. Either of these methods can fix defects up to four times larger than those that can be fixed by only modifying absorber patterns near them.