CEA-LETI, Minatec Campus, 17 rue des martyrs, Grenoble, Cedex 9, France, EV Group E.Thallner GmbH, DI Erich Thallner Str. 1, St. Florian am Inn, Austria

In this paper the rules-based correction strategies for the nanoimprint lithography (NIL) technology are addressed using complete Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) characterizations. Performed onto 200 mm wafers imprinted with the HERCULES NIL equipment platform, Critical Dimension (CD) uniformity analyses are used to measure the evolution of lines and spaces features dimensions from the master to 50 consecutive imprints. The work brings focus on sub micrometer resolution features with duty cycles from 3 to 7. The silicon masters were manufactured with 193 optical lithography and dry etching and were fully characterized prior to the imprint process. Repeatability tests were performed over 50 wafers for two different processes to collect statistical and comparative data. The data revealed that the CD evolutions can be modelled by quadratic functions with respect to the number of imprints and feature dimension (CD and pitch) on the master. These models are used to establish the rules-based corrections for lines arrays in the scope of nanoimprint master manufacturing, and it opens the discussion on the process monitoring through metrology for the nanoimprint soft stamp technologies. © 2017 SPIE.

calibration, CDU, design rules, high volume manufacturing, nanoimprint, UV-NIL

Calibration, Manufacture, Micrometers, Optical variables measurement, Photolithography, Process monitoring, Scanning electron microscopy, Silicon wafers, WSI circuits, Critical dimension uniformities, Design rules, High volume manufacturing, Integration process, Line-and-space patterns, Nano-imprint, Submicrometer resolution, UV-NIL, Nanoimprint lithography