Printability of X-ray mask defects in sub 0.5 mm mask pattern

Abstract This paper aims at a description of x-ray mask defects, in order to specify the requirements on defect inspection and repair of 1:1 x-ray masks. For three types of x-ray mask defects the critical sizes are calculated with XMAS (x-ray lithography modelling and simulation) for different defect positions, critical dimensions, defect shapes and proximity gaps. The critical defect size corresponds to a printed defect size on the wafer of one tenth of the critical dimension. Defects larger than the critical size have to be repaired. A comparison between physical and simulated print of a defect is given.