Status report on EUV source development and EUV source applications in EUVL

Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) is the leading technology for patterning at the 32 nm technology node and beyond. EUVL light at 13.5 nm is used to print circuits. This light is produced by heating fuel (Xe, Sn) in EUV sources to a very high temperature by using either magnetic compression or laser irradiation. Today EUV source power remains the number one concern for implementation of EUVL in high volume manufacturing. Over the last few years, much progress has been made in EUV source performance and availability. Today, alpha level high power (-10 W) EUV sources have been integrated in alpha level EUVL scanners. Medium and low power EUV sources are used for in-house metrology and performance studies on EUV mask blanks, EUV masks, photoresists, and optical elements. These compact discharge sources with medium power in the range of 10-100 mW/sr/2% bandwidth and low power EUV tubes are being used by various R&D labs for development of mask, optics, and resists. Pre viously, development of EUVL was mostly located at beamlines; today, these low power EUV sources are instrumental in allowing in-house R&D projects. In this paper, the latest status of high power EUV sources, low and medium power metrology sources, and some of their applications are described.