Phase Imaging of Extreme-Ultraviolet Mask Using Coherent Extreme-Ultraviolet Scatterometry Microscope

Phase-shifting masks were developed for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography to enlarge the process window, and some researchers developed mask phase defect compensation methods adopting absorber pattern modification. To evaluate these small phase structures, a phase-imaging microscope is required. For actinic phase imaging, we have developed a coherent EUV scatterometry microscope (CSM) based on a coherent diffraction imaging method. The image-forming optics are replaced by an inverse computation, where the frequency space phase data are retrieved. Therefore, the aerial image phase data are also reconstructed. The CSM thus observes the intensity and phase image. We improved the reconstruction algorithm by which the illumination probe was simultaneously reconstructed; phase images of a crossed line pattern, an 88 nm line-and-space pattern, and a phase defect were reconstructed quantitatively. The CSM will be helpful for phase-shift mask development and phase defect compensation. (c) 2013 The Japan Society of Applied Physics