Production of EUV mask blanks with low killer defects

For full commercialization, extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) technology requires the availability of EUV mask blanks that are free of defects. This remains one of the main impediments to the implementation of EUV at the 22 nm node and beyond. Consensus is building that a few small defects can be mitigated during mask patterning, but defects over 100 nm (SiO2 equivalent) in size are considered potential “killer” defects or defects large enough that the mask blank would not be usable. The current defect performance of the ion beam sputter deposition (IBD) tool will be discussed and the progress achieved to date in the reduction of large size defects will be summarized, including a description of the main sources of defects and their composition.