STORAGE MEDIUM STORING EXPOSURE CONDITION DETERMINATION PROGRAM, EXPOSURE CONDITION DETERMINATION METHOD, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD

• US 20090075216A1
• Filed: 09/11/2008
• Published: 03/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Kawakami, Tomoaki
• Application Number:
  US12/209,040
• Publication Number:
  US 20090075216A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 430/322
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70091 Illumination settings, i.e. intensity distribution in the pupil plane or angular distribution in the field plane; On-axis or off-axis settings, e.g. annular, dipole or quadrupole settings; Partial coherence control, i.e. sigma or numerical aperture [NA]
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/705 Modelling or simulating from physical phenomena up to complete wafer processes or whole workflow in wafer productions
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70566 Polarisation control

Abstract

A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute determination of an exposure condition for use in illuminating an original plate with an illumination optical system and projecting an image of a pattern of the original plate onto a substrate through a projection optical system. The program causes the computer to perform operations including setting a light intensity distribution on a pupil plane in the illumination optical system based on a constraint condition concerning an optical element constituting the illumination optical system, calculating the image of the pattern of the original plate to be projected onto the substrate using the light intensity distribution, and determining the exposure condition for exposing the substrate with the image of the pattern of the original plate based on a calculation result of the image of the pattern of the original plate and the constraint condition.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium for causing a computer to execute determination of an exposure condition for use in illuminating an original plate with an illumination optical system and projecting an image of a pattern of the original plate onto a substrate through a projection optical system, the program causing the computer to perform operations comprising:

setting a light intensity distribution on a pupil plane in the illumination optical system based on a constraint condition concerning an optical element constituting the illumination optical system;

calculating the image of the pattern of the original plate to be projected onto the substrate using the light intensity distribution; and

determining the exposure condition for exposing the substrate with the image of the pattern of the original plate based on a calculation result of the image of the pattern of the original plate and the constraint condition.

2. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the constraint condition includes at least one of a movable range of a zoom lens in the illumination optical system, an angle range of ridge lines of a prism in the illumination optical system, a shape of a light blocking member in the illumination optical system, energy density of light incident on the optical element in the illumination optical system, and illuminance on the substrate.

5. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise evaluating the calculation result of the image of the pattern of the original plate, and

wherein an index for evaluating the calculation result includes at least one of depth of focus, exposure latitude, side-lobe of an intensity distribution of the image, and a critical dimension of the image.

7. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 5, wherein the operations further include determining the exposure condition such that at least one of depth of focus, exposure latitude, and gradient of the intensity distribution of the image becomes maximal.

9. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the exposure condition includes a polarization state of light on the pupil plane in the projection optical system.

3. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute determination of an exposure condition for use in illuminating an original plate using an illumination optical system and projecting an image of a pattern of the original plate onto a substrate through a projection optical system, the program causing the computer to perform operations comprising:

setting a light intensity distribution by selecting data from a data group of light intensity distributions formable by the illumination optical system on a pupil plane in the illumination optical system;

calculating the image of the pattern of the original plate to be projected onto the substrate using the light intensity distribution; and

determining an exposure condition for exposing the substrate with the image of the pattern of the original plate based on a calculation result of the image of the pattern of the original plate and the data group.

4. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 3, wherein each item of data stored in the data group includes data obtained by measuring the light intensity distribution on the pupil plane in the illumination optical system or precalculated data.

6. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 3, wherein the operations further include evaluating the calculation result of the image of the pattern of the original plate, and

wherein an index for evaluating the calculation result includes at least one of depth of focus, exposure latitude, side-lobe of an intensity distribution of the image, and a critical dimension of the image.

8. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 6, wherein the operations further include determining the exposure condition such that at least one of depth of focus, exposure latitude, and gradient of the intensity distribution of the image becomes maximal.

10. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 3, wherein the exposure condition includes a polarization state of light on the pupil plane in the projection optical system.

11. A method for determining, using a computer, an exposure condition for use in illuminating an original plate with an illumination optical system and projecting an image of a pattern of the original plate onto a substrate through a projection optical system, the method comprising:

setting a light intensity distribution on a pupil plane in the illumination optical system based on a constraint condition concerning an optical element constituting the illumination optical system;

calculating the image of the pattern of the original plate to be projected onto the substrate using the light intensity distribution; and

determining an exposure condition for exposing the substrate with the image of the pattern of the original plate based on a calculation result of the image of the pattern of the original plate and the constraint condition.

12. An exposure method for illuminating an original plate with an illumination optical system and projecting an image of a pattern of the original plate onto a substrate through a projection optical system, the exposure method comprising exposing the substrate with the image of the pattern of the original plate using an exposure condition determined using the method according to claim 11.

13. A device manufacturing method comprising:

exposing a substrate with an image of a pattern of an original plate using the exposure method according to claim 12;

developing the exposed substrate; and

forming a device using the developed substrate.

14. A method for determining, using a computer, an exposure condition for use in illuminating an original plate with an illumination optical system and projecting an image of a pattern of the original plate onto a substrate through a projection optical system, the method comprising:

setting a light intensity distribution by selecting data from a data group of light intensity distributions formable by the illumination optical system on a pupil plane in the illumination optical system;

calculating image of the pattern of the original plate to be projected onto the substrate using the light intensity distribution; and

determining the exposure condition for exposing the substrate with the image of the pattern of the original plate based on a calculation result of the image of the pattern of the original plate and the data group.

15. An exposure method for illuminating an original plate with an illumination optical system and projecting an image of a pattern of the original plate onto a substrate through a projection optical system, the exposure method comprising exposing the substrate with the image of the pattern of the original plate using an exposure condition determined using the method according to claim 14.

16. A device manufacturing method comprising:

exposing a substrate with an image of a pattern of an original plate using the exposure method according to claim 15;

developing the exposed substrate; and

forming a device using the developed substrate.