IMPROVED 193NM EXCIMER LASER FOR USE IN A LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM

CYMER LASER TECHNOLOGIES PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A PRODUCTION WORTHY ARGON FLUORIDE EXCIMER LASER FOR A 193NM PROJECTION LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM WHICH WILL BE USED IN THE FABRICATION OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS WITH FEATURE SIZES AT OR BELOW 0.25 MICRONS. THE LASER WILL OPERATE AT A REPETITION RATE OF > 500 HZ, WITH PULSE-TO-PULSE STABILITY <2%, LK, AND AT AN AVERAGE POWER OF 15 W. IN ADDITION, IMPROVEMENTS IN RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, AND MAINTAINABILITY (RAM) , AND THE TOTAL COST OF OPERATION WILL BE ADDRESSED. IN PHASE I OF THIS PROGRAM WE WILL FOCUS ON THREE SPECIFIC AREAS OF TECHNOLOGY. 1. IMPROVED GAS FLOW DYNAMICS INSIDE THE LASER IN ORDER TO INCREASE THE REPETITION RATE AND TO IMPROVE THE PULSE-TOPULSE ENERGY STABILITY. 2. OPTIMIZE THE ELECTRODE PROFILE AND MATERIAL FOR MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY AND LONG ELECTRODE LIFE. 3. OPTIMIZE THE PULSE POWER MODULE, ONCE AGAIN TO MAXIMIZE EFFICIENCY AND IMPROVE THYRATRON LIFE. AT THE CONCLUSION OF PHASE 1 OF THIS PROGRAM, WE WILL DEMONSTRATE, IN A TEST LASER, THE SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS. WE WILL SHOW HOW THE PROPOSED CHANGES AND LASER SUBSYSTEM OPTIMIZATION WILL LEAD TO A PRODUCTION WORTHY 193NM LASER. THE PURPOSE OF THE PHASE I PROGRAM IS TO PERFORM DETAILED ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTS THAT WILL TELL US HOW TO ACHIEVE THE FINAL OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT, NAMELY, BUILD A PRODUCTION WORTHY ARF LASER FOR A PRODUCTION LITHOGRAPHY TOOL. THE BENEFIT OF THE PROGRAM TO DARPA WILL BE THE AVAILABILITY OF A HIGHLY RELIABLE AND PRODUCTION WORTHY ARGON FLUORIDE (193NM) LASER FOR A PROJECTION LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM. OPTICAL LITHOGRAPHY BASED ON USING A 193NM ARGON FLUORIDE LASER AS THE ILLUMINATION SOURCE PROVIDES THE SIMPLEST AND THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE MEANS TO ACHIEVE SUB 0.25 MICRON DESIGN FEATURES IN VLSI FABRICATION.