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US 12,513,809 B2Granted
Semiconductor processing tool and methods of operation
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsKuan-Hung Chen, Shang-Chieh Chien, Li-Jui Chen, Heng-Hsin Liu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Some implementations described herein provide a dual-feedback control system for laser beam targeting in a lithography system such as an EUV lithography system. In addition to using feedback from a high-frequency quad-cell sensor to adjust a target position of the pre-pulse laser beam based on a first portion of a phase of a wavefront of the pre-pulse laser beam, the dual-feedback control system uses feedback from a low-frequency camera sensor to adjust the target position of the pre-pulse laser beam based on a second portion of the phase of the wavefront.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- receiving, by a lithography system, a semiconductor substrate coated with a photoresist material;
- and
- exposing, by the lithography system, the semiconductor substrate to light generated by an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation source using a pre-pulse laser beam, wherein using the pre-pulse laser beam comprises:
- receiving, by a controller from a quad-cell sensor, first data associated with the pre-pulse laser beam, wherein the first data corresponds to a first portion of a phase of a wavefront of a first portion of the pre-pulse laser beam;
- receiving, by the controller from a camera sensor, second data associated with the pre-pulse laser beam, wherein the second data corresponds to a second portion of the phase of the wavefront of a second portion the pre-pulse laser beam;
- and
- providing, by the controller based on the first data and the second data, a signal to cause an adjustment to a target position of the pre-pulse laser beam.
4 more elements
A method, comprising:
- receiving, by a controller from a camera sensor, first data associated with a pre-pulse laser beam provided by a laser source;
- determining, by the controller based on a comparison of the first data and second data, that a target position of the pre-pulse laser beam has moved over a time duration, wherein the first data corresponds to a first portion of a phase of a wavefront of a first portion of the pre-pulse laser beam and the second data corresponds to a second portion of the phase of the wavefront of a second portion the pre-pulse laser beam;
- determining, by the controller based on determining that the target position of the pre-pulse laser beam has moved over the time duration, to adjust a calibration setting of a mirror system controlling the target position of the pre-pulse laser beam;
- and
- providing, by the controller based on determining to adjust the calibration setting of the mirror system, a signal to the mirror system to cause an adjustment to the calibration setting,
- wherein the adjustment to the calibration setting is to cause the target position to align to a focus region in which a droplet of a target material is to be deformed by the pre-pulse laser beam.
3 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a radiation source configured to generate extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light from a droplet of a target material;
- a mirror configured to redirect a laser beam from a laser source of the radiation source to a target position corresponding to a focus region;
- a quad-cell sensor configured to operate at a first frequency;
- a camera sensor configured to operate at a second frequency that is less than the first frequency;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- receive, from the quad-cell sensor at the first frequency, first data associated with the laser beam, wherein the first data corresponds to a first portion of a phase of a wavefront of the laser beam;
- receive, from the camera sensor at the second frequency, second data associated with the laser beam, wherein the second data corresponds to a second portion of the phase that encompasses the first portion of the phase;
- determine, based on one or more of the first data or the second data, to adjust an orientation of the mirror to adjust the target position;
- and
- provide, based on determining to adjust the orientation of the mirror to adjust the target position, a signal to cause an adjustment to the orientation of the mirror to adjust the target position to align to the focus region.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.