An EUV Fresnel zoneplate mask-imaging microscope for lithography generations reaching 8 nm

We present the potential optical performance capabilities of a next-generation extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask-imaging microscope, based on the proven optical principle of the SEMATECH Berkeley Actinic Inspection Tool (AIT), but surpassing it in every performance metric. The new synchrotron-based tool, referred to here as the SEMATECH Berkeley Actinic Imaging Tool at 0.5 NA (AIT5) will enable research on multiple generations of EUV lithography design rules. The proposed microscope features an array of user-selectable Fresnel zoneplate lenses with diffractionlimited quality and different optical properties, such as numerical aperture (NA) and magnification. An efficient all-EUV optical system with variable high magnification and direct EUV detection provides images with the highest possible signal-to-noise ratio. A lossless, customizable-coherence illuminator based on angle-scanning mirrors and an ellipsoidal condenser creates arbitrary pupil fill patterns, with partial coherence σ values up to 1.0 at 0.5 4×NA and higher. In combination with rotated zoneplate objective lenses, the illuminator will be capable of a range of discrete azimuthal angles as well, modeling the behavior of EUV steppers across a ring-field of view.