EUV Optical Element Having Blister-Resistant Multilayer Cap
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(19) TZZ Z¥_T (11) EP 2 905 637 A1 (12) EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION (43) Date of publication: (51) Int Cl.: 12.08.2015 Bulletin 2015/33 G02B 5/08 (2006.01) G21K 1/06 (2006.01) (21) Application number: 14154265.4 (22) Date of filing: 07.02.2014 (84) Designated Contracting States: (72) Inventor: Böwering, Norbert AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB 5503 LN Veldhoven (NL) GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR (74) Representative: Grünecker Patent- und Designated Extension States: Rechtsanwälte BA ME PartG mbB Leopoldstraße 4 (71) Applicant: ASML Netherlands B.V. 80802 München (DE) 5504 DR Veldhoven (NL) (54) EUV optical element having blister-resistant multilayer cap (57) A multilayer mirror having a cap with a multilayer the materials for the top layer, absorber layers, and spac- structure including a top layer and a series of bilayers er layers are chosen to resist blistering. each having an absorber layer and a spacer layer, where EP 2 905 637 A1 Printed by Jouve, 75001 PARIS (FR) 1 EP 2 905 637 A1 2 Description vacuum chamber with the plasma to collect and redirect the EUV radiation. The environment within the chamber FIELD is inimical to the optical element and so limits its useful lifetime, for example, by degrading its reflectivity. An op- [0001] The present disclosure relates to optical ele- 5 tical element within the environment may be exposed to ments designed to operate in environments in which they high energy ions or particles of target material. The par- are subject to contamination and wear. An example of ticles of target material can contaminate the optical ele- such an environment is the vacuum chamber of an ap- ment’s exposed surface. Particles of target material can paratus for generating extreme ultraviolet ("EUV") radi- also cause physical damage and localized heating of the ation from a plasma created through discharge or laser 10 MLM surface. The target materials may be particularly ablation of a target material. In this application, the optical reactive with a material making up at least one layer of elements are used, for example, to collect and direct the the optical element surface, e.g., molybdenum and sili- radiation for utilization outside of the vacuum chamber, con. Temperature stability, ion-implantation, and diffu- e.g., for semiconductor photolithography. sion problems may need to be addressed even with less 15 reactive target materials, e.g., tin, indium, or xenon. Blis- BACKGROUND tering of the MLM coating must also be avoided. [0008] There are techniques which may be employed [0002] Extreme ultraviolet radiation, e.g., electromag- to increase optical element lifetime despite these harsh netic radiation having wavelengths of around 50 nm or conditions. For example, a capping layer may be placed less (also sometimes referred to as soft x-rays), and in- 20 on the optical element to protect the surface of the optical cluding radiation at a wavelength of about 13.5 nm, can element. To make the capping layer more reflective it be used in photolithography processes to produce ex- may also have multiple layers spaced to increase reflec- tremely small features in substrates such as silicon wa- tivity at the wavelength of the radiation to be reflected. fers. [0009] Such multilayer capping layers are, however, [0003] Methods for generating EUV radiation include 25 themselves prone to damage through mechanisms such converting a target material from a liquid state into a plas- as hydrogen diffusion and blistering. In some systems ma state. The target material preferably includes at least H2 gas at pressures in the range of 0.5 to 3 mbar is used one element, e.g., xenon, lithium or tin, with one or more in the vacuum chamber for debris mitigation. In the ab- emission lines in the EUV range. In one such method, sence of a gas, at vacuum pressure, it would be difficult often termed laser produced plasma ("LPP"), the re-30 if not impossible to protect the collector adequately from quired plasma can be produced by using a laser beam target material debris ejected from the plasma. Hydrogen to irradiate a target material having the required line-emit- is relatively transparent to EUV radiation having a wave- ting element. length of about 13.5 nm and so is preferred to other can- [0004] One LPP technique involves generating a didate gases such as He, Ar or other gases which exhibit stream of target material droplets and irradiating at least 35 a higher absorption at about 13.5 nm. some of the droplets with laser radiation pulses. In more [0010] H2 gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber theoretical terms, LPP sources generate EUV radiation to slow down the energetic debris (ions, atoms, and clus- by depositing laser energy into a target material having ters) of target material created by the plasma. The debris at least one EUV emitting element, such as xenon (Xe), is slowed down by collisions with the gas molecules. For 40 tin (Sn), or lithium (Li), creating a highly ionized plasma this purpose a flow of H 2 gas is used which may also be with electron temperatures of several 10’s of eV. counter to the debris trajectory. This serves to reduce [0005] The energetic radiation generated during de- the damage of deposition, implantation, and sputtering excitation and recombination of these ions is emitted from target material on the optical coating of the collector. Us- the plasma in all directions. In one common arrangement, ing this method it is believed possible to slow down en- a near-normal-incidence mirror (often termed a "collector 45 ergetic particles with energies of several keV to a few mirror" or simply a "collector") is positioned to collect, tens of eV by the many gas collisions at these pressures direct, and, in some arrangements, focus the radiation over the distance between the plasma site and the col- to an intermediate location. The collected radiation may lector surface. then be relayed from the intermediate location to a set [0011] Another reason for introducing N2 gas into the of scanner optics and ultimately to a wafer. 50 vacuum chamber is to facilitate cleaning of the collector [0006] In the EUV portion of the spectrum it is generally surface. The EUV radiation generated by the plasma cre- regarded as necessary to use reflective optics for the ates hydrogen radicals by dissociating the H 2 molecules. collector. At the wavelengths involved, the collector is The hydrogen radicals in turn help to clean the collector advantageously implemented as a multi-layer mirror surface from target material deposits on the collector sur- ("MLM"). As its name implies, this MLM is generally made 55 face. For example, in the case of tin as the target material, up of alternating layers of material over a foundation or the hydrogen radicals participate in reactions on the col- substrate. lector surface that lead to the formation of volatile gase- [0007] The optical element must be placed within the ous stannane (SnH4) which can be pumped away. For 2 3 EP 2 905 637 A1 4 this chemical path to be efficient it is preferred that there and is not intended to identify key or critical elements of is a low H recombination rate (to form back H 2 molecules) all embodiments nor set limits on the scope of any or all on the collector surface so that the hydrogen radicals are embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some con- available instead for attaching to the Sn to form SnH4. cepts of one or more embodiments in a simplified form Generally, a surface consisting of non-metallic com-5 as a prelude to the more detailed description that is pre- pounds like nitrides, carbides, borides and oxides has a sented later. lower H recombination rate as compared to a surface [0018] According to one aspect, there is provided a consisting of pure metals. multilayer mirror comprising a substrate, a multilayer [0012] The use of H2 gas, however, can have a nega- coating on the substrate, and a capping layer on the mul- tive effect on a coating applied to the collector by both 10 tilayer coating, in which the capping layer includes an the light hydrogen atoms and molecules on the coating. outermost layer comprising a material having a high re- It is believed that the hydrogen atoms are so small that sistance to target material deposition and a multilayer they can easily diffuse several layers deep into a collector structure positioned between the outermost layer and the configured as a multilayer mirror. Hydrogen can be im- substrate, the multilayer structure comprising a plurality planted if ion deceleration is insufficient and can also15 of bilayers, each of the bilayers comprising a spacer layer diffuse into the collector cap and layers of the multilayer including a material resistant to hydrogen diffusion and mirrorbeneath thecap. These phenomena mostseverely blistering and an absorber layer including a material re- affect outermost layers. sistant to ion penetration. [0013] Once atomic hydrogen invades the body of the [0019] The outermost layer may be a nitride or oxide multilayer mirror it can bond to Si, get trapped at layer 20 with high resistance to target material deposition, good boundaries and interfaces, or both. The magnitude of energy reduction for incident ions, and low secondary these effects depends on the dose and concentration of electron yield, such as ZrN, Si 3N4, YN, ZrO 2, Nb2O5, and hydrogen in these regions. If the hydrogen concentration TiO2.