COMPLETE MANUFACTURABILITY OF SUBWAVELENGTH LITHOGRAPHY USING OPTICALENHANCEMENTS

With the development of modern optical lithography techniques enabling dimensions less than the wavelength of the source being used to be pr inted, the use of simulation is becoming very widespread. It is primar ily used to predict the requirements and effects of advanced technique s such as high numerical aperture (NA) steppers, attenuated phase shif t masks (APSM's) and optical proximity correction (OPC). It can also y ield information on the optical properties of the substrate to be patt erned. This paper uses simulation and experiment to study the effects seen upon near resolution limit contacts and damascene trenches, print ed using conventional i-line lithography. We will also evaluate the co st-of-process using these enhancements for an i-line process when comp ared to a standard 248nm DUV process.