Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) entered high volume production in 2019 for advanced logic foundries; and dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) companies are increasingly interested in adopting EUVL as well. The next evolution is the introduction of High NA (0.55NA) EUVL which will enable continued half-pitch scaling down to 8nm. Imec and ASML are setting up a High NA EUV Lab to accelerate the adoption of high NA EUV by serving the development needs of High NA chip manufacturers as well as equipment and materials supplier ecosystem. The co-optimization of the scanner, mask, resist stack and etch will ensure an optimum performance of High NA EUV lithography. In this session, High NA patterning challenges and innovations will be reviewed towards exposures on the first High NA tool in 2024.
