Lens heating compensation systems and methods

• US 9,746,784 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2013
• Issued: 08/29/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ASML Netherlands BV (ASML Holding NV)
• Original Assignee: ASML Netherlands BV (ASML Holding NV)
• Inventors: Ye, Jun, Liu, Peng, Cao, Yu
• Primary Examiner(s): Riddle, Christina
• Application Number:
  US14/064,937
• Publication Number:
  US 20140047397A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,401 Days
• Field of Search: 355 30, 355 52, 355 55, 355 53, 355 67- 71, 355 77, 430 30, 250548, 2504921, 2504922, 25049222, 25049223, 2504931, 716 53, 716 54, 716 55
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70266 Adaptive optics, e.g. deformable optical elements for wavefront control, e.g. for aberration adjustment or correction
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70441 Optical proximity correction [OPC]
• 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 7/70504 Optical system modelling, e.g. lens heating models
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/706 Aberration measurement
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70891 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]

Abstract

Methods for calibrating a photolithographic system are disclosed. A cold lens contour for a reticle design and at least one hot lens contour for the reticle design are generated from which a process window is defined. Aberrations induced by a lens manipulator are characterized in a manipulator model and the process window is optimized using the manipulator model. Aberrations are characterized by identifying variations in critical dimensions caused by lens manipulation for a plurality of manipulator settings and by modeling behavior of the manipulator as a relationship between manipulator settings and aberrations. The process window may be optimized by minimizing a cost function for a set of critical locations.

Claims

1. A method of performing optical proximity correction (OPC) on a target design for a lithographic process, the method comprising:

obtaining an optical system heating model that accounts for effects of optical system heating in the lithographic process;

obtaining a set of process window conditions associated with the lithographic process;

determining one or more pattern failures across the set of process window conditions using the optical system heating model;

performing, by a hardware computer system, OPC on the target design based on the determined one or more pattern failures; and

outputting an electronic representation of the corrected target design for creating the pattern as provided by a patterning device of the lithographic process.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a cold optical system model associated with a cold optical system state of the lithographic process,

wherein determining one or more pattern failures is performed by combining results using the cold optical system model and the optical system heating model.

3. A method according to claim 2, further comprising:

identifying a plurality of hot optical system states of the lithographic process,

wherein determining one or more pattern failures is performed by accounting for the plurality of hot optical system states using the cold optical system model and the optical system heating model.

4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a set of slit positions associated with an optical system of the lithographic process,

wherein determining one or more pattern failures is further performed across the set of slit positions.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more pattern failures include bridging and/or necking.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein performing OPC includes adjusting edges of features in the target design.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the optical system heating model comprises a physics-based predictive model.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the optical system heating model is an optical system heating model formed using actual measurements of the lithographic process.

9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement a method of performing optical proximity correction (OPC) on a target design for a lithographic process, the method comprising:

obtaining an optical system heating model that accounts for effects of optical system heating in the lithographic process;

obtaining a set of process window conditions associated with the lithographic process;

determining one or more pattern failures across the set of process window conditions using the optical system heating model;

performing OPC on the target design based on the determined one or more pattern failures; and

outputting an electronic representation of the corrected target design for creating the pattern as provided by a patterning device of the lithographic process.

10. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining a cold optical system model associated with a cold optical system state of the lithographic process,

wherein determining one or more pattern failures is performed by combining results using the cold optical system model and the optical system heating model.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

identifying a plurality of hot optical system states of the lithographic process,

wherein determining pattern one or more failures is performed by accounting for the plurality of hot optical system states using the cold optical system model and the optical system heating model.

12. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining a set of slit positions associated with an optical system of the lithographic process,

wherein determining one or more pattern failures is further performed across the set of slit positions.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein the one or more pattern failures include bridging and/or necking.

14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein performing OPC includes adjusting edges of features in the target design.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein the optical system heating model comprises a physics-based predictive model.

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the optical system heating model is an ASCAL based optical system heating model formed using actual measurements of the lithographic process.

17. A system, comprising:

a hardware computer; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to;

determine one or more pattern failures across a set of process window conditions associated with a lithographic process using an optical system heating model that accounts for effects of optical system heating in the lithographic process;

perform optical proximity correction (OPC) on a target design of the lithographic process based on the determined one or more pattern failures; and

output an electronic representation of the corrected target design for creating the pattern as provided by a patterning device of the lithographic process.

18. A system according to claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to determine one or more pattern failures by combining results using a cold optical system model associated with a cold optical system state of the lithographic process and the optical system heating model.

19. A system according to claim 18, wherein the instructions, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to determine one or more pattern failures by accounting for a plurality of hot optical system states of the lithographic process using the cold optical system model and the optical system heating model.

20. A system according to claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to determine one or more pattern failures across a set of slit positions associated with an optical system of the lithographic process.

21. A system according to claim 17, wherein the one or more pattern failures include bridging and/or necking.

22. A system according to claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the computer, that cause the computer to perform optical proximity correction cause the computer to adjust edges of features in the target design.

23. A system according to claim 17, wherein the optical system heating model comprises a physics-based predictive model.

24. A system according to claim 23, wherein the optical system heating model is an optical system heating model formed using actual measurements of the lithographic process.