Patent Publication Number: US-9426872-B1

Title: System and method for controlling source laser firing in an LPP EUV light source

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The present application relates generally to laser produced plasma (LLP) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light sources, and, more specifically, to a method and system for firing a source laser in an LPP EUV light source. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     The semiconductor industry continues to develop lithographic technologies which are able to print ever-smaller integrated circuit dimensions. Extreme ultraviolet (“EUV”) light (also sometimes referred to as soft x-rays) is generally defined to be electromagnetic radiation having wavelengths of between 10 and 120 nanometers (nm) with shorter wavelengths expected to be used in the future. EUV lithography is currently generally considered to include EUV light at wavelengths in the range of 10-14 nm, and is used to produce extremely small features, for example, sub-32 nm features, in substrates such as silicon wafers. These systems must be highly reliable and provide cost effective throughput and reasonable process latitude. 
     Methods to produce EUV light include, but are not necessarily limited to, converting a material into a plasma state that has one or more elements, e.g., xenon, lithium, tin, indium, antimony, tellurium, aluminum, etc., with one or more emission line(s) in the EUV range. In one such method, often termed laser produced plasma (“LPP”), the required plasma can be produced by irradiating a target material, such as a droplet, stream or cluster of material having the desired line-emitting element, with a laser pulse at an irradiation site. The target material may contain the spectral line-emitting element in a pure form or alloy form, for example, an alloy that is a liquid at desired temperatures, or may be mixed or dispersed with another material such as a liquid. 
     A droplet generator heats the target material and extrudes the heated target material as droplets which travel along a trajectory to the irradiation site to intersect the laser pulse. Ideally, the irradiation site is at one focal point of a reflective collector. When the laser pulse hits the droplets at the irradiation site, the droplets are vaporized and the reflective collector causes the resulting EUV light output to be maximized at another focal point of the collector. 
     In earlier EUV systems, a laser light source, such as a CO 2  laser source, is on continuously to direct a beam of light to the irradiation site, but without an output coupler so that the source builds up gain but does not lase. When a droplet of target material reaches the irradiation site, the droplet causes a cavity to form between the droplet and the light source and causes lasing within the cavity. The lasing then heats the droplet and generates the plasma and EUV light output. In such “NoMO” systems (called such because they do not have a master oscillator) no timing of the arrival of the droplet at the irradiation site is needed, since the system only lases when a droplet is present there. 
     More recently, NoMO systems have generally been replaced by “MOPA” systems, in which a master oscillator and power amplifier form a source laser which may be fired as and when desired, regardless of whether there is a droplet present at the irradiation site or not, and “MOPA PP” (“MOPA with pre-pulse”) systems in which a droplet is sequentially illuminated by more than one light pulse. In a MOPA PP system, a “pre-pulse” is first used to heat, vaporize or ionize the droplet and generate a weak plasma, followed by a “main pulse” which converts most or all of the droplet material into a strong plasma to produce EUV light emission. 
     One advantage of MOPA and MOPA PP systems is that the source laser need not be on constantly, in contrast to a NoMO system. However, since the source laser in such a system is not on constantly, firing the laser at an appropriate time so as to deliver a droplet and laser pulses to the desired irradiation site simultaneously for plasma initiation presents additional timing and control problems beyond those of prior systems. It is not only necessary for the laser pulses to be focused on an irradiation site through which the droplet will pass, but the firing of the laser must also be timed so as to allow the laser pulses to intersect the droplet when it passes through that irradiation site in order to obtain a good plasma, and thus good EUV light. In particular, in a MOPA PP system, the pre-pulse must target the droplet very accurately. 
     What is needed is an improved way of controlling and the timing of the source laser, so that when the source laser is fired, the resulting pulse will irradiate the droplets at the irradiation site. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to various embodiments, a method for timing the firing of a source laser in an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) laser produced plasma (LPP) light source having a droplet generator which releases a sequence of droplets, the source laser firing pulses at an irradiation site comprises: obtaining a first amount of EUV energy generated from a first pulse of the pulses that impacted a first droplet of the sequence of droplets; determining, from the detected first amount of EUV energy, an anticipated delay of a second droplet of the sequence of droplets reaching the irradiation site; and modifying a timing of firing a second pulse of the pulses based on the anticipated delay of the second droplet so as to irradiate the second droplet when the second droplet reaches the irradiation site. 
     According to various embodiments, a system for timing the firing of a source laser in an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) laser produced plasma (LPP) light source having a droplet generator which releases a sequence of droplets, the source laser firing pulses at an irradiation site comprises: an EUV energy detector configured to obtain a first amount of EUV energy generated from a first pulse of the pulses that impacted a first droplet of the sequence of droplets; and a delay module configured to: determine, from the detected first amount of EUV energy, an anticipated delay of a second droplet of the sequence of droplets reaching the irradiation site, and instruct the source laser to modify a timing of firing a second pulse of the pulses based on the anticipated delay of the second droplet so as to irradiate the second droplet when the second droplet reaches the irradiation site. 
     According to various embodiments, a non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions embodied thereon, the instructions executable by one or more machines to perform operations for timing the firing of a source laser in an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) laser produced plasma (LPP) light source having a droplet generator which releases a sequence of droplets, the source laser firing pulses at an irradiation site, the operations comprise: obtaining a first amount of EUV energy generated from a first pulse of the pulses that impacted a first droplet of the sequence of droplets; determining, from the detected first amount of EUV energy, an anticipated delay of a second droplet of the sequence of droplets reaching the irradiation site; and modifying a timing of firing a second pulse of the pulses based on the anticipated delay of the second droplet so as to irradiate the second droplet when the second droplet reaches the irradiation site. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an illustration of some of the components of a typical prior art embodiment of an LPP EUV system. 
         FIG. 2  is a simplified illustration showing some of the components of another prior art embodiment of an LPP EUV system. 
         FIG. 3  is a simplified illustration of some of the components of an LPP EUV system including an EUV energy detector and a delay module, according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a method of timing the pulses of a source laser in an LPP EUV system according to one embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In LPP EUV systems, droplets of a target material travel sequentially from a droplet generator to an irradiation site, where each is irradiated by a pulse from a source laser. If the pulse fails to impact a droplet, no EUV light is generated. If the pulse successfully impacts the droplet, a maximum amount of EUV light is generated. Between these two extremes, when the pulse impacts only a portion of the droplet, a lower amount of EUV light is generated. As such, it is desirable to time the pulses so that they successfully impact the droplets, maximizing the amount of EUV energy generated. 
     When irradiated, the droplet converts to a plasma which causes subsequent droplets to slow as they approach the irradiation site. Without adjusting for this effect, the source laser fires pre-maturely (relative to the slowed droplet) and a smaller amount of EUV light is generated because only the leading edge of the droplet is irradiated. 
     To compensate for the slowing of the droplet, the firing of the source laser is delayed. To determine an appropriate amount of time to delay the pulse, the EUV energy generated from the impact of one or more preceding droplets with previous laser pulses is obtained or determined. Using a weighted sum or a low pass filter, the amount of time to delay the firing of the pulse is determined based on the obtained or determined EUV energy. The source laser is then instructed to fire accordingly. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a cross-section of some of the components of a typical LPP EUV system  100  as is known in the prior art. A source laser  101 , such as a CO 2  laser, produces a laser beam (or a sequence of pulses)  102  that passes through a beam delivery system  103  and through focusing optics  104 . Focusing optics  104  may, for example, be comprised of one or more lenses or other optical elements, and has a nominal focal spot at an irradiation site  105  within a plasma chamber  110 . A droplet generator  106  produces droplets  107  of an appropriate target material that, when hit by laser beam  102 , produces a plasma which emits EUV light. In some embodiments, there may be multiple source lasers  101 , with beams that all converge on focusing optics  104 . 
     Irradiation site  105  is preferably located at a focal spot of collector  108 , which has a reflective interior surface and focuses the EUV light from the plasma at EUV focus  109 , a second focal spot of collector  108 . For example, the shape of collector  108  may comprise a portion of an ellipsoid. EUV focus  109  will typically be within a scanner (not shown) containing pods of wafers that are to be exposed to the EUV light, with a portion of the pod containing wafers currently being irradiated being located at EUV focus  109 . 
     For reference purposes, three perpendicular axes are used to represent the space within the plasma chamber  110  as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The vertical axis from the droplet generator  106  to the irradiation site  105  is defined as the x-axis; droplets  107  travel generally downward from the droplet generator  106  in the x-direction to irradiation site  105 , although as described above in some cases the trajectory of the droplets may not follow a straight line. The path of the laser beam  102  from focusing optics  104  to irradiation site  105  in one horizontal direction is defined as the z-axis, and the y-axis is defined as the horizontal direction perpendicular to the x-axis and the z-axis. 
     As above, in some prior art embodiments, a closed-loop feedback control system may be used to monitor the trajectory of the droplets  107  so that they arrive at irradiation site  105 . Such a feedback system again typically comprises a line laser which generates a planar curtain between the droplet generator  106  and irradiation site  105 , for example by passing the beam from the line laser through a combination of spherical and cylindrical lenses. One of skill in the art will appreciate how the planar curtain is created, and that although described as a plane, such a curtain does have a small but finite thickness. 
       FIG. 2  is a simplified illustration showing some of the components of a prior art LPP EUV system such as is shown in  FIG. 1 , with the addition of a planar curtain  202  which may be created by a line laser (not shown) as described above. Curtain  202  extends primarily in the y-z plane, i.e., the plane defined by the y- and z-axes (but again has some thickness in the x-direction), and is located between the droplet generator  106  and irradiation site  105 . 
     When a droplet  107  passes through curtain  202 , the reflection of the laser light of curtain  202  from the droplet  107  creates a flash which may be detected by a sensor (in some prior art embodiments this is called a narrow field, or NF, camera, not shown) and allows the droplet position along the y- and/or z-axis to be detected. If the droplet  107  is on a trajectory that leads to the irradiation site  105 , here shown as a straight line from the droplet generator  106  to irradiation site  105 , no action is required. In some embodiments, curtain  202  may be located about 5 mm from irradiation site  105 . 
     However, if the droplet  107  is displaced from the desired trajectory in either the y- or z-direction, a logic circuit determines the direction in which the droplets should move so as to reach irradiation site  105 , and sends appropriate signals to one or more actuators to re-align the outlet of droplet generator  106  in a different direction to compensate for the difference in trajectory so that subsequent droplets will reach irradiation site  105 . Such feedback and correction of the droplet trajectory may be performed on the droplets, as is known to one of skill in the art. 
     As is known in the art, while the laser curtains have a finite thickness, it is preferable to make the curtains as thin as is practical, since the thinner a curtain is the more light intensity it has per unit of thickness (given a specific line laser source), and can thus provide better reflections off the droplets  107  and allow for more accurate determination of droplet position. For this reason, curtains of about 100 microns (measured FWHM, or “full-width at half-maximum,” as known in the art) are commonly used, as it is not practical to make thinner curtains. The droplets are generally significantly smaller, on the order of 30 microns or so in diameter, and an entire droplet will thus easily fit within the thickness of the curtain. The “flash” of laser light reflected off of the droplet is a function that increases as the droplet first hits the curtain, reaches a maximum as the droplet is fully contained within the curtain thickness, and then decreases as the droplet exits the curtain. 
     As is also known in the art, it is not necessary that the curtain(s) extend across the entire plasma chamber  110 , but rather need only extend far enough to detect the droplets  107  in the area in which deviations from the desired trajectory may occur. Where two curtains are used, one curtain might, for example, be wide in the y-direction, possibly over 10 mm, while the other curtain might be wide in the z-direction, even as wide as 30 mm, so that the droplets may be detected regardless of where they are in that direction. 
     Again, one with skill in the art will understand how to use such systems to correct the trajectory of droplets  107  to insure that they arrive at irradiation site  105 . As above, in the case of NoMO systems, this is all that is required, since again the droplets  107  themselves form part of a cavity, along with a light source that is continuously on such as a CO 2  laser source, to cause lasing and vaporize the target material. 
     However, in MOPA systems, source laser  101  is typically not generating laser pulses continuously, but rather fires laser pulses when a signal to do so is received. Thus, in order to hit discrete droplets  107  separately, it is not only necessary to correct the trajectory of the droplets  107 , but also to determine the time at which a particular droplet will arrive at irradiation site  105  and send a signal to source laser  101  to fire at a time such that a laser pulse will arrive at irradiation site  105  simultaneously with a droplet  107 . 
     In particular, in MOPA PP systems, which generate a pre-pulse followed by a main pulse, the droplet must be targeted very accurately with the pre-pulse in order to achieve maximum EUV energy when the droplet is vaporized by the main pulse. A focused laser beam, or string of pulses, has a finite “waist,” or width, in which the beam reaches maximum intensity; for example, a CO 2  laser used as a source laser typically has a usable range of maximum intensity of about 10 microns in the x- and y-directions. 
     Since it is desirable to hit a droplet with the maximum intensity of the source laser, this means that the positioning accuracy of the droplet must be achieved to within about ±5 microns in the x- and y-directions when the laser is fired. There is somewhat more latitude in the z-direction, as the region of maximum intensity may extend for as much as about 1 mm in that direction; thus, accuracy to within ±25 microns is generally sufficient. 
     The speed (and shape) of the droplets is measured and thus known; droplets may travel at over 50 meters per second. (One of skill in the art will appreciate that by adjusting the pressure and nozzle size of the droplet generator the speed may be adjusted.) The position requirement thus also results in a timing requirement; the droplet must be detected, and the laser fired, in the time it takes for the droplet to move from the point at which it is detected to the irradiation site. 
     To complicate compliance with the timing requirement, the droplets slow significantly upon approaching the plasma at the irradiation site  105 . This slowing can be caused by a number of forces within the plasma chamber  110 . Because the slowing of the droplet prevents the droplet from arriving at the irradiation site  105  at an expected time, the droplet is only partially irradiated and less EUV energy is generated from the droplet. The slowing of the droplet thus manifests as, and is proportionally related to, the amount of EUV energy generated from the EUV droplet. 
       FIG. 3  is a simplified illustration of some of the components of an LPP EUV system  300  including an EUV energy detector  304  and a delay module  302 , according to an embodiment. System  300  contains elements similar to those in the systems of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , and additionally includes a delay module  302  and an EUV energy detector  304 . One of skill in the art will also appreciate that while  FIG. 3  is shown as a cross-section of the system  300  in the x-z plane, in practice the plasma chamber  110  is often rounded or cylindrical, and thus the components may in some embodiments be rotated around the periphery of the chamber while maintaining the functional relationships described herein. 
     As described above, droplet generator  106  creates droplets  107  which are intended to pass through irradiation site  105 , where they are irradiated by pulses from source laser  101 . (For simplicity, some elements are not shown in  FIG. 3 .) The delay module  302  can be implemented in a variety of ways known to those skilled in the art including, but not limited to, as a computing device having a processor with access to a memory capable of storing executable instructions for performing the functions of the described modules. The computing device can include one or more input and output components, including components for communicating with other computing devices via a network or other form of communication. The delay module  302  comprises one or more modules embodied in computing logic or executable code such as software. In other instances, the delay module  302  can be implemented in a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). 
     The EUV energy detector  304  of the system  300  detects the amount of EUV energy generated in the plasma chamber  110 . EUV energy detectors comprise photodiodes and are generally known to those skilled in the art. As is familiar to those skilled in the art, by integrating the EUV power signal provided by the EUV energy detector  304  over the time span that the droplet is irradiated, the EUV energy generated from the impact of the droplet and the laser pulse is calculated. 
     The delay module  302  is configured to determine, from the amount of EUV energy, an anticipated delay of a next droplet due to the slowing that occurs as the droplet nears the plasma at the irradiation site  105 . The anticipated delay is calculated by the formula:
 
 T   delay   =E   EUV,droplet   *P  
 
where T delay  is the anticipated delay (in nanoseconds), E EUV,droplet  is the amount of EUV energy generated from the immediately preceding droplet, and P is a parameter having the units of Watt −1  (i.e., 1/Watt).
 
     In one embodiment, the parameter, P, was calculated by measuring droplet velocity near the irradiation site for different EUV energies. The parameter P was then derived from the slope of a line of the droplet velocity versus EUV energy. This parameter is static, that is, it has been determined that source-specific calibration of this parameter is not needed. 
     The anticipated delay can be calculated as above, and used to instruct the source laser  101  to delay firing accordingly. The source laser  101 , absent an instruction to delay from the delay module  302 , can fire pulses at regular intervals coinciding with the intervals at which the droplet generator  106  generates droplets, for example, at a rate of 40-50 kHz. Thus, the source laser  101  fires the pulses at a periodic interval, regardless of whether the anticipated delay is calculated, for example, approximately every 20-25 microseconds. The delay module  302  can modify a preexisting system trigger for firing the laser by adding the calculated anticipated delay and instructing the source laser  101  to fire accordingly. In other embodiments, the delay module  302  can provide the anticipated delay to the source laser  101 . The source laser  101  can then itself modify the preexisting system trigger for firing the laser by the anticipated delay. 
     In some instances, other methods to calculate the anticipated delay can be used. These methods may provide greater accuracy, thus resulting in greater EUV energy generation. In some instances, for example, the amount of EUV generated from a pre-defined number of droplets can be used to calculate the anticipated delay of a next droplet. In other instances, a low pass filter can be applied to the amount of EUV energy generated by previously irradiated droplets to calculate the anticipated delay of the next droplet. 
     When the amount of EUV generated from a pre-defined number of droplets is used to calculate the anticipated delay, the amount of EUV energy generated from each of the pre-defined number of droplets is obtained. From each amount of EUV energy, an anticipated delay is calculated and scaled using a scaling factor. These scaled delays are combined (e.g., summed) to determine the anticipated delay of the next droplet. 
     To illustrate, in some instances, the number of droplets between the curtain  202  and the irradiation site  105  is selected as the pre-determined number. In one embodiment, where the curtain  202  is 5 mm from the irradiation site  105 , and the droplets are generated at 50 kHz, at a given point in time, three droplets can be travelling between the curtain  202  and the irradiation site  105 . In this embodiment, the anticipated delay can be calculated as:
 
 T delay=( E   EUV,droplet1   *P )+(½)( E   EUV,droplet2   *P )+(⅓)( E   EUV,droplet3   *P )
 
where T delay  is the anticipated delay (in microseconds), E EUV,droplet1  is the amount of EUV energy generated from the immediately preceding droplet, E EUV,droplet2  is the amount of EUV energy generated by the penultimate droplet, E EUV,droplet3  is the amount of EUV energy generated by the droplet preceding the penultimate droplet, and P is a parameter having the units of Watt −1 . As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art in light of the description herein, the previous anticipated delay times can be scaled proportionate to their respective 1/r values (where r is a count indicating the order in which the previous droplets arrived at the irradiation site  105 , e.g., the most recent droplet is r=1, the droplet before the most recent droplet is r=2, and so on), but other proportions can be used.
 
     In other instances, when a low pass filter is applied to the amount of EUV energy generated by previously irradiated droplets to determine the anticipated delay, a larger number of previous droplets can be included in the calculations. The amount of EUV energy generated from each droplet in a series of droplets is obtained and assembled as a signal that changes over time to which a low pass filter can be applied using techniques known to those skilled in the art. One example of a low pass filter that can be used is an infinite impulse response (IIR) low pass filter. Because the output of the low pass filter indicates energy, a scaling factor can be applied to determine the anticipated delay. 
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a method  400  of timing the pulses of a source laser in an LPP EUV system according to one embodiment. The method  400  can be performed, at least in part, by the EUV energy detector  304  and the delay module  302 . 
     In an operation  402 , a laser pulse is fired at an irradiation site (e.g. irradiation site  105 ), by, for example, source laser  101 , at least partially impacting a droplet. 
     In an operation  404 , the amount of EUV energy generated by the impact is detected by, for example, the EUV energy detector  304 . The amount of EUV energy can be obtained from the EUV energy detector  304  as a currently detected value or can be obtained by retrieving a previously stored detected value. As described herein, the amount of EUV generated by the impact is proportional to the relative position of the droplet to the fired pulse. 
     In an operation  406 , the anticipated delay of the next droplet in reaching the irradiation site  105  is determined as described in connection with the delay module  302 . The slowing of the droplet is observed to be proportional to the amount of EUV generated by at least the immediately preceding droplet. 
     In an operation  408 , the firing of the next laser pulse by the source laser  101  is delayed based the anticipated delay. In one embodiment, the operation  408  is performed by modifying a periodic interval between the pulses based on the anticipated delay. By delaying the firing of the next laser pulse, the likelihood that the next droplet is irradiated upon reaching the irradiation site is increased. 
     Note that this flowchart shows the treatment of a single droplet. In practice, the droplet generator is continuously generating droplets as described above. Since there is a sequential series of droplets, there will similarly be a sequential series of anticipated delays generated, thus causing the source laser to fire a series of pulses based on the anticipated delays and irradiating a series of droplets at the irradiation site to create the EUV plasma. 
     The disclosed method and apparatus has been explained above with reference to several embodiments. Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of this disclosure. Certain aspects of the described method and apparatus may readily be implemented using configurations other than those described in the embodiments above, or in conjunction with elements other than those described above. 
     For example, different algorithms and/or logic circuits, perhaps more complex than those described herein, may be used. While certain examples have been provided of various configurations, components and parameters, one of skill in the art will be able to determine other possibilities that may be appropriate for a particular LPP EUV system. Different types of source lasers and line lasers, using different wavelengths than those described herein, as well as different sensors, focus lenses and other optics, or other components may be used. Finally, it will be apparent that different orientations of components, and distances between them, may be used in some embodiments. 
     It should also be appreciated that the described method and apparatus can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a process, an apparatus, or a system. The methods described herein may be implemented in part by program instructions for instructing a processor to perform such methods, and such instructions recorded on a computer readable storage medium such as a hard disk drive, floppy disk, optical disc such as a compact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD), flash memory, etc. In some embodiments the program instructions may be stored remotely and sent over a network via optical or electronic communication links. It should be noted that the order of the steps of the methods described herein may be altered and still be within the scope of the disclosure. 
     These and other variations upon the embodiments are intended to be covered by the present disclosure, which is limited only by the appended claims.