Broadband extreme ultraviolet zero-order Scatterometry for nanostructure metrology

Broadband extreme ultraviolet zero-order Scatterometry for nanostructure metrology | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Broadband extreme ultraviolet zero-order Scatterometry for nanostructure metrology Peter Kraus, Francesco Corazza, Emmanouil Kechaoglou, Leo Guery, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7215343/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The continuous shrinkage of the Critical Dimension in nanoscale fabrication demands new short-wavelength nanometrology approaches. Most industrial metrology is carried out on periodic structures to increase diffraction efficiencies and lower costs. Vice versa, performing short-wavelength spectroscopy on well-known structures allows reconstructing both amplitude and phase of reflected light, greatly increasing the information content of a measurement. Here, we introduce a table-top High-Harmonic Generation scatterometry approach operating in the extreme ultraviolet range. Our method exploits the typically overlooked 0-th diffraction order, which, despite lacking spatially encoded information, carries valuable spectrally encoded information and provides the highest diffraction efficiency. This approach constitutes a fast, reliable and non-destructive method for nanostructure metrology. Relative reflectivity measured in a grazing incidence reflection configuration goes beyond the need for an absolute calibration of the setup, and the morphology reconstruction protocol hereby presented makes this approach robust against fabrication imperfections. Rigorous Coupled-Wave Analysis simulations underpin a library-based inverse reconstruction approach, demonstrating precise determination of critical dimensions and groove heights on Silicon grating structures with nanometer-scale accuracy of 10 nm for critical dimension and 1 nm for groove height within 70% confidence intervals. Extreme-ultraviolet high-harmonic-generation based scatterometry leverages diffraction from structures with at-wavelength features and delivers sensitivities and accuracies to structural details far below the diffraction limit. Physical sciences/Physics/Optical physics/High-harmonic generation Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Techniques and instrumentation/Characterization and analytical techniques Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical techniques/Optical spectroscopy Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files BroadbandstaticscatterometrySupplementaryMethods.pdf Broadband extreme ultraviolet zero-order Scatterometry for nanostructure metrology - Supplementary methods Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7215343","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":501141598,"identity":"d6d62fa4-068e-47ae-8991-5daf33719930","order_by":0,"name":"Peter Kraus","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAApUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACCTBZASKYGxgYCojWcgZEMAK1GBCrhbGNFC2Ssw8/k/w5zy6ff3ZjA3MBMVqk+dLMpHm3JVvOuHOwgXkGMVrkeBjMpBm3MRsYSCQ2MPMQp4X9m+TPOfUkaJHm4TGT4G04TIIWyR6eYmueY8cNJG4kNhwmSovEGfaNN3/UVBvwz0g++JingggtKOAAqRpGwSgYBaNgFOAAAAB4KtA1YbwWAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2989-5560","institution":"Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography (ARCNL)","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Peter","middleName":"","lastName":"Kraus","suffix":""},{"id":501141599,"identity":"8fc54016-22e0-4932-972c-e482da74ce6f","order_by":1,"name":"Francesco Corazza","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography (ARCNL)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Francesco","middleName":"","lastName":"Corazza","suffix":""},{"id":501141600,"identity":"23c7bb65-eee2-4094-b5d6-cafd9aa6bf3b","order_by":2,"name":"Emmanouil Kechaoglou","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography (ARCNL)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Emmanouil","middleName":"","lastName":"Kechaoglou","suffix":""},{"id":501141601,"identity":"feaba20e-73fa-4382-8837-1914d3261d0f","order_by":3,"name":"Leo Guery","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography (ARCNL)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Leo","middleName":"","lastName":"Guery","suffix":""},{"id":501141602,"identity":"bab54ad4-c283-43e3-b2c9-3c3df0d520a4","order_by":4,"name":"Zhonghui Nie","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography (ARCNL)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhonghui","middleName":"","lastName":"Nie","suffix":""},{"id":501141603,"identity":"44f1d8fe-9c97-467b-a11d-b59abd39f07c","order_by":5,"name":"Parikshit Phadke","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography (ARCNL)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Parikshit","middleName":"","lastName":"Phadke","suffix":""},{"id":501141604,"identity":"226453cb-647a-412e-b692-564ed116f457","order_by":6,"name":"Carl Lehmann","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0716-0902","institution":"Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography (ARCNL)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carl","middleName":"","lastName":"Lehmann","suffix":""},{"id":501141605,"identity":"555fbea6-6a5e-4090-8c54-8c6a24ef127c","order_by":7,"name":"Roland Bliem","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8714-8942","institution":"Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Roland","middleName":"","lastName":"Bliem","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-25 14:51:08","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7215343/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7215343/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":89349047,"identity":"732d6b5f-7d64-486e-bf62-c3762232bae0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-19 05:41:11","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":7515834,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Broadbandstaticscatterometry.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7215343/v1_covered_0a034cc7-8156-454b-8476-fd107dd6bd78.pdf"},{"id":89348320,"identity":"7792a902-30e5-4603-9d91-b0e9e4d22803","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-19 05:33:09","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":686541,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Broadband extreme ultraviolet zero-order Scatterometry for nanostructure metrology - 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Vice versa, performing short-wavelength spectroscopy on well-known structures allows reconstructing both amplitude and phase of reflected light, greatly increasing the information content of a measurement. \r\nHere, we introduce a table-top High-Harmonic Generation scatterometry approach operating in the extreme ultraviolet range. Our method exploits the typically overlooked 0-th diffraction order, which, despite lacking spatially encoded information, carries valuable spectrally encoded information and provides the highest diffraction efficiency. This approach constitutes a fast, reliable and non-destructive method for nanostructure metrology. \r\nRelative reflectivity measured in a grazing incidence reflection configuration goes beyond the need for an absolute calibration of the setup, and the morphology reconstruction protocol hereby presented makes this approach robust against fabrication imperfections. 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