Method and apparatus for predicting a growth rate of deposited contaminants

摘要

A lithography system (10) comprising a radiation projection system (20) for projecting radiation onto a substrate, a substrate transport system (30) for loading and positioning the substrate to be processed in the path of the projected radiation, a control system (40) for controlling the substrate transport system to move the substrate, and a resist characterization system (50) arranged for determining whether a specific type of resist is suitable to be exposed by radiation within the lithography system. The resist characterization system (50) may be arranged for exposing the resist on a surface of the substrate with one or more radiation beams, measuring a mass distribution of molecular fragments emitted from the resist, predicting a growth rate of deposited molecular fragments on the basis of a growth rate model and the measured mass distribution, and comparing the expected growth rate with a predetermined threshold growth rate.

主权项

1. A lithography system comprising:
a radiation projection system for projecting radiation onto a substrate; a substrate transport system for loading and positioning the substrate to be processed in the path of the projected radiation; a control system for controlling the substrate transport system to move the substrate; and a resist characterization system arranged for determining whether a specific type of resist is suitable to be exposed by radiation within the lithography system;wherein the resist characterization system is arranged for:
exposing the resist on a surface of the substrate with one or more radiation beams; measuring a mass distribution of molecular fragments emitted from the resist; using a growth rate model, based on earlier measurements of radiation induced deposition caused by known molecular fragments for different partial pressures; predicting a growth rate of deposited molecular fragments on the basis of the growth rate model of molecular fragments and the measured mass distribution of molecular fragments, and deriving a partial pressure on the basis of the measured mass distribution of molecular fragments; and comparing the predicted growth rate with a predetermined threshold growth rate, the threshold growth rate being related to a maximum allowable growth rate in the lithography system.