Table of Contents

Preface; List of Abbreviations and Acronyms; 1 Immersion Lithography and its Challenges; 1.1 Basics of Photolithography; 1.1.1 Resolution of the exposure system; 1.1.2 Step and scan; 1.2 Immersion Lithography (193i) and Its Advantages; 1.2.1 Depth-of-focus improvement; 1.2.2 Water as the immersion fluid; 1.2.3 Hyper-NA and high refractive index immersion (193i+); 1.3 Challenges for the 193i Process; 1.3.1 Topcoat versus non-topcoat; 1.3.2 Immersion defectivity; 1.3.3 Imaging at hyper-NA; References; 2 Process Steps in the Track; 2.1 Coating Module; 2.1.1 Material dispense; 2.1.2 Viscosity of materials; 2.1.3 Film thickness; 2.1.4 Reduction of material consumption; 2.1.5 Coating imperfection and defects; 2.1.5.1 Comets; 2.1.5.2 Striations; 2.1.5.3 Edge bead and backside contamination; 2.1.6 Material drying at nozzle; 2.1.7 Alternative coating techniques; 2.2 Baking Module; 2.2.1 Temperature uniformity.