Mask-aligner lithography using a continuous-wave diode laser frequency-quadrupled to 193 nm

• Published in: Optics express Vol. 26; no. 2; pp. 730 - 743
• Main Authors: Kirner, Raoul, Vetter, Andreas, Opalevs, Dmitrijs, Gilfert, Christian, Scholz, Matthias, Leisching, Patrick, Scharf, Toralf, Noell, Wilfried, Rockstuhl, Carsten, Voelkel, Reinhard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 22.01.2018
• ISSN: 1094-4087; 1094-4087
• DOI: 10.1364/OE.26.000730

We present a mask-aligner lithographic system operated with a frequency-quadrupled continuous-wave diode laser emitting at 193 nm. For this purpose, a 772 nm diode laser is amplified by a tapered amplifier in the master-oscillator power-amplifier configuration. The emission wavelength is upconverted twice, using LBO and KBBF nonlinear crystals in second-harmonic generation enhancement cavities. An optical output power of 10 mW is achieved. As uniform exposure field illumination is crucial in mask-aligner lithography, beam shaping is realized with optical elements made from fused silica and CaF featuring a diffractive non-imaging homogenizer. A tandem setup of shaped random diffusers, one static and one rotating, is used to control speckle formation. We demonstrate first experimental soft contact and proximity prints for a field size of 1 cm with a standard binary photomask and proximity prints with a two-level phase mask, both printed into 120 nm layers of photoresist on unstructured silicon substrates.