X-RAY MICROLITHOGRAPHY COLLIMATOR DEVELOPMENT

DARPA AND THE U.S. SEMICONDUCTOR COMMUNITY ARE ACTIVELY DEVELOPING LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA (LPP) X-RAY SOURCES AS THE BASIS FOR X-RAY MICROLITHOGRAPHY EXPOSURE SYSTEMS. THESE LPP SOURCES WILL ALLOW THE CONSTRUCTION OF COMPACT EXPOSURE SYSTEMS THAT CAN BE EASILY INTEGRATED INTO EXISTING SEMICONDUCTOR FABRICATION LINES, AT A COSTSUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THAT OF COMPARABLE SYNCHROTRON EXPOSURE BEAM-LINES. IT IS GENERALLY AGREED THAT AN LPP-BASED EXPOSURE SYSTEM MUST INCORPORATE A PARABOLOIDAL SOFT X-RAY COLLIMATOR OPTIC TO COMPENSATE FOR BEAM DIVERGENCE THAT WOULD OTHERWISE DEGRADE THE ABILITY OF THE SYSTEM TO REPLICATE SUB-MICRON LINE FEATURES. THE GOAL OF THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROJECT IS TO CALCULATIONALLY AND EXPERIMENTALLY EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF COLLIMATOR MANUFACTURING INNOVATIONS THAT IMPROVE THE RADIATION TRANSPORT EFFICIENCY AND REDUCE THE REPLICATION COST OF THE COMPONENTS. THIS WILL SET THE STAGE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND EVALUATION OF OPTIMZED LPP X-RAY COLLIMATOR PROTOTYPE UNITS IN PHASE II OF THE PROJECT. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT WILL PROVIDE TO THE U.S. SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY A PRACTICAL, EFFICIENT, AND COST-EFFECTIVE MEANS FOR IMPLEMENTING NEXT-GENERATION X-RAY CONTACT MICROLITHOGRAPHY EXPOSURE TECHNIQUES. IT WILL ADDITIONALLY SET IN PLACE AN ADVANCED X-RAY OPTICS TECHNOLOGY THAT SUPPORTS FOLLOWING-GENERATION PROJECTION MICROLITHOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES. KEYWORDS - X-RAY CONTACT MICROLITHOGRAPHY, SOFT X-RAY COLLIMATOR OPTIC