P20 High-NA enablement through pattern shaping technology: tip-to-tip engineering, roughness, and defectivity improvement

High numerical aperture (High-NA, 0.55 NA) EUV lithography is expected to extend single-exposure patterning to tighter pitches, but meeting product-level requirements at aggressive tip-to-tip (T2T) dimensions remains limited by local variabilities, roughness, and stochastic defectivity. Recent High-NA demonstrations have highlighted the resolution potential while reinforcing the need for complementary patterning techniques to close the gap to targets. Here, we evaluate directional pattern shaping (directional etch) on logic place-and-route structures at 20nm pitch using the Applied Centura™ Sculpta™ system. We benchmark two etch-stack options and quantify T2T critical dimension (CD), T2T local CD uniformity (LCDU), trench CD erosion, unbiased roughness (LWR/LER), and bridge-defect evolution through focus. A T2T push of up to 8.3nm is achieved with final T2T CDs down to 16nm and limited lateral trench CD loss. Stack engineering improves directional selectivity from 4.2:1 to 6.4:1 (x:y). Pattern shaping additionally smooths line edges, reducing unbiased LWR by ~20% and LER by ~10%, and naturally removes stochastic bridge defects, enabling ~30% improvement in defect-based depth of focus (DoF). These results position directional pattern shaping as a complement to High-NA EUV lithography for advanced logic scaling.