Enabling single-exposure metal logic with high-NA lithography

We present a comprehensive study of pitch 20 nm (P20) and pitch 18 nm (P18) metal logic designs, including regular tip-to-tip (T2T) and logic structures using bright-field masks in combination with dry metal-oxide resist. Patterning performance is evaluated across multiple source configurations and resist process conditions. For P20 T2T, we demonstrate a ∼13 nm T2T-CD (critical dimension) with local CD uniformity (LCDU) below 3 nm. For P18, single high-NA EUV exposure enables 18 nm T2T-CD with LCDU<3 nm. Further scaling is achieved using a directional etch at resist, reducing T2T-CD to ∼9 nm while maintaining LCDU ∼3 nm in P18 structure. To assess manufacturability, large-area defectivity is investigated using e-beam inspection after etch into hardmask for P20 metal logic structures. These results demonstrate the feasibility of single-patterning approaches for advanced metal logic and support the adoption of High-NA EUV for damascene integration.