EUV reticle defectivity protection options

EUV pellicles have been enabled to provide customers with defect protection for EUV reticles. However, due to the absorption that is much higher than for DUV pellicles, using the pellicle has certain disadvantages. Most significant is the reduction in throughput caused by the absorption of EUV photons in the pellicle. This leads to a customer decision to use a pellicle and accept the reduced throughput, or to not use a pellicle and have additional inspection steps to check the cleanliness of the EUV reticle. These tradeoffs vary by customer and use case. This study addresses the balance of factors for using or not using a pellicle through a cost comparison.