Laser-Produced Plasma Sources for Short-Wavelength Applications Including Lithography and Microscopy

O'Sullivan, Gerry; Dunne, Padraig, Univ. College Dublin; Higashiguchi, Takeshi, Utsunomiya Univ. Ctr. for Optical Research & Education; Miyazaki, Takanori; O'Reilly, Fergal, Univ. College Dublin; Sokell, Emma, Univ. College Dublin

doi:10.1117/3.2638242.ch2

Book: Photon Sources for Lithography and Metrology

Editor(s): Vivek Bakshi

Author(s): Gerry O'Sullivan, Padraig Dunne, Takeshi Higashiguchi, Takanori Miyazaki, Fergal O'Reilly, Emma Sokell

Published: 2023

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2638242.ch2

Author Affiliations +

Abstract

New devices that have been enabled by extreme-ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) are about to enter the market, led by the new generation of smartphones from Apple and Samsung whose processors have been fabricated using the ‘5-nm process’ facilitated by EUVL. This recent advance marks the culmination of almost 30 years of research that followed the development of Mo/Si multilayer mirrors (MLMs) with a single-mirror reflectivity of around 70% at a wavelength of 13.5 nm in a 4.5% bandwidth that led to the selection of this wavelength by the semiconductor industry. Currently, scanners based on 13.5-nm multilayer optics are being supplied by ASML, and chip manufacturing is underway at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)—the sole supplier of the A14 processor to Apple for its latest iPhones, iPads and Mac computers—and Samsung, which is making a new Qualcomm® processor for Android phones. Research on sources, driven by the increased power requirements for future lithography nodes, is still ongoing at the major manufacturers Gigaphoton and Cymer, as well as at a significant number of research laboratories worldwide.