Assessment of Complementary Double Dipole Lithography for 45nm and 32nm Technologies

ABSTRACT

The merits of complementary double dipole illumination using 193 nm exposure wavelength with water immersion for 45 nm and 32 nm nodes is investigated. Off-axis dipole illumination shows a significant improvement in the resolution for lines and spaces oriented along the direction perpendicular to the dipole orientation. However, there is also a significant loss of resolution along the dipole direction. Consequently, two dimensional circuit patterning requires a double exposure to improve the resolution in both directions. Thus, the original layout must be decomposed into two masks: one containing the features to be primarily imaged with one dipole and another one with features to be imaged in the complementary direction. The horizontal and vertical lines must be selected and protective patches are required on each mask to protect the pattern formed by the complementary exposure. The potential capability of the dipole illumination used in conjunction with the immersion lithography for 45 nm and 32 nm nodes will be described. The Mentor Graphic approach based on the model assisted decomposition for the Double Dipole Lithography (DDL) was applied to the small clips of the 2D layout of the gate level for random logic. The lithographic process window and the CD control will be estimated through simulation.