Enhancement of ArF immersion scanner system for advanced device node manufacturing

In order to meet the industry’s increasingly demanding requirements, especially in the area of improving pattern edge placement error for multiple patterning processes, we have developed the leading edge NSR-S635E ArF immersion scanner. The NSR-S635E delivers marked enhancements in scanner performance compared to the previous generation system, and provides expanded alignment capacity with a groundbreaking system called the inline Alignment Station (iAS) [1]. In this paper, we introduce the details of the NSR-S635E, including iAS, and demonstrate their capabilities for solving production challenges now and in the future.