Calculation and uses of the lithographic aerial image

Abstract

Beginning with the seminal Dill papers of 1975, the aerial image has been essential for understanding the process of microlithography. From the aerial image, we can predict the performance of a given lithographic process in terms of depth of focus, exposure latitude, etc. As lithographic technologies improved, reaching smaller and smaller printed features, the sophistication of aerial image calculations has had to increase from simple incoherent imaging theory, to partial coherence, polarization effects, thin film effects at the resist, thick mask effects, and so on. This tutorial provides an overview and semihistorical development of the aerial image calculation and then provides a review of some of the various ways in which the aerial image is typically used to estimate the performance of the lithographic process.