Ultrashort pulse laser repair of photomasks for advanced lithography technologies

Deep ultraviolet (DUV) femtosecond laser repair of Cr binary and phase-shift photomasks is routine and well established over decades of practice. As Moore's law progresses into sub-10 nm nodes, there is a necessary diversification of lithography technologies which can similarly benefit from the high-throughput, non-contact, contaminate-selective capabilities of ultrashort pulsed laser repair. These alternative lithography masks include extreme ultraviolet (EUV) TaN reflective and DUV SiN-based photomasks. Additionally, parametrically systematic studies are shown with intent to find the limits of selective, sub-resolution, removal of simulated soft defects in various patterns on DUV photomasks.