Limitations of optical reticle inspection for 45-nm node and beyond

Pushing the limits of optical lithography by immersion technology requires ever smaller feature sizes on the reticle. At the same time the k1-factor will be shifted close to the theoretical limit, e.g. the OPC structures on the reticle become very aggressive. For the mask shop it is essential to manufacture defect free masks. The minimum defect size, which needs to be found reliably, becomes smaller with decreasing feature sizes. Consequently optical inspection of masks for the 45nm node and below will be challenging. In this paper the limits of existing KLA inspection tools were investigated by systematic inspection of different structures without and with programmed defects. A test mask with isolated and dense lines/space patterns including programmed defects was manufactured, completely characterized by CD-SEM and inspected with state-of-the-art inspection system. AIMSTM measurements were used to evaluate the defect printing behavior. The analysis of the measurement data gives an input for requirements of reticle inspection of upcoming 45nm node and beyond.