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SAW: Joel Toppin
Toppin finished 5th in the 1600 and 3rd in 3200 as a junior.
Sponsored by:
Toppin finished 5th in the 1600 and 3rd in 3200 as a junior.
Johnson led the Comets to the 2012 State Championship.
Highlights include: MC/SEP (Girls Golf), CL/MC (Boys Soccer).
Gonzalez is a four-time state place winner.
The Drake Relays start Thursday, April 24th.
Larson is heading to Liberty University next season.
Williams graduated from Charles City in 1991.
Highlights from the NIACC HS All-Star BB games.
Hear local MMA fighter Mark Sainci break down Saturday's win from backstage getting ready to doing work in the cage itself.
Bruins coach Chris Tok reacts to Saturday's record-breaking game.


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The Visa and Citizenship Office of the Australian Consulate-General in Hong Kong is responsible for Australian visa and citizenship matters for applicants in Taiwan.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection is pleased to announce the opening of an Australian Visa Application Centre (AVAC) in Hong Kong from 13 October 2014. The introduction of an AVAC is part of a number of service delivery improvements.
For more information, please see http://www.hongkong.china.embassy.gov.au/hkng/Visas_and_Migration.html and
Working Holiday Maker Program
If you are interested in Australia's Working Holiday Maker visa program, a factsheet is available here.
You can apply for the program directly here.
Additional information for working holiday makers to assist you with your preparations is available in English here and in Chinese here.
The aim of the Working Holiday Maker program is to allow you an extended opportunity to holiday in Australia. You may also study short courses of up to four months' duration, and you may take on paid work to help cover your travel expenses.
You can do any kind of lawful work on your working holiday visa including full-time, part-time, casual, shift and voluntary work, subject to the conditions of your visa (for example, you may only work for one employer for a total of six months). Some useful job-search engines are available here. Working holiday makers are entitled to the same work rights and conditions as all Australians under the Commonwealth Fair Work Act. The Fair Work Ombudsman website provides several web-based tools that can help you in understanding your pay, entitlements and conditions at work.
How to Make Enquiries
Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP)
Australian Visa Application Centre
+852 2185 6326
Monday to Friday 08:00-17:00

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Cultivating gratitude for our jobs changes how we see the world and our place in it.
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Brave. This is not a word I would typicall..
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"Hey! How's it going?" I ask.
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My name's Tim, and I'm 19. I'm one of those people who never dated through high school, and it's never really bothered ..
At the beginning of the month, I posted a selfie on social media as part of the #RockYourJob Contest. I wrote in the caption how I work for the Lord in my mark..
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DEFINITION of 'Seasons'
The current stage of a proposed business idea or concept. Seasons is a slang term that is generally used among venture capitalists.
The seasons are spring (infancy), summer (adolescence), fall (maturing) and winter (mature).
INVESTOPEDIA EXPLAINS 'Seasons'
Like many investors, venture capitalists are always trying to discover the "next big thing". The real trick is being able to discover the next big thing before it is even on anyone else's radar.
If a concept or idea is so new and fresh that no one (including other venture capitalists) really knows about it or understands it, it is likely in the spring phase. As it matures, it progresses through the other seasons.
For example, in the late twentieth century, there was lots of buzz about new technologies like HDTV and RFID; however, once everyone is talking about an industry or concept, it has probably already passed from the spring season in to the summer season.
Angel InvestorAn investor who provides financial backing for small startups ...
Venture Capital FundsAn investment fund that manages money from investors seeking ...
Venture CapitalMoney provided by investors to startup firms and small businesses ...
Venture CapitalistAn investor who either provides capital to startup ventures or ...
Love MoneySeed money or capital given by family or friends to an entrepreneur ...
Seed CapitalThe initial capital used to start a business. Seed capital often ...
5 Tips For Investing In IPOs
How does an IPO get valued? What are ...
IPO Basics Tutorial
Investing Basics
What's The Best Franchise Investment ...


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Mena: legal battle with ex
The actress' ex-husband Simone Sestito, is asking for more than 17,000 dollars a month in spousal support
Everyone wants a piece of the pie... Mena Suvari's soon-to-be ex-husband, Simone Sestito, wants the actress to hand over a whopping $17,000 per month in spousal support as part of their divorce.
According to court documents filed this week — and obtained by TMZ — Sestito claims he has "negative balances" on all his personal and business accounts and has been forced to pay his bills with credit cards and loans from his parents.
Sestito claims he got used to eating out "almost everyday at high end restaurants" and lists his estimated monthly eating out expense as $3,000 per month. He is seeking $17,151 per month in spousal support from Suvari (who he claims earns $750,000 annually), plus an additional $10,000 for attorney fees.
Suvari's lawyer, Mark Gross, says, "It is unfortunate that Simone has chosen the spotlight of litigation over the privacy of mediation."
Suvari began dating Sestito in 2007, marrying on June 26, 2010. The actress filed for divorce on January 13, 2012. She was previously married to cinematographer Robert Brinkmann from March 2004 to May 2005.
Photo: © www.splashnews.com
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Brunello Cuccinelli with his Foundation presented a project of paysage restoration in Umbria region, around Solomeo


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A system and method of calculating estimated image profiles. The system and method includes providing lens characteristic data and performing simulation calculations for various levels of aberration components using the lens characteristic data. A response surface functional relation is built between selected variables of the lens characteristics, in particular the lens aberration components, and the Image Profile using the simulation calculations. Evaluation is then performed on the arbitrary specified aberration values of a lens in relation to the response surface functional relations to provide a calculated estimate of the Image Profile for the specified aberration values. A machine readable medium and exposure apparatus are also provided.
1. A method of calculating estimated image profiles implemented on a tangibly-embodied storage medium resident on one or more computing devices, comprising the steps of:
providing imaging configuration characteristic data;
performing simulation calculations for various levels for each aberration component using the imaging configuration characteristic data using a processor of the one or more computing devices;
building response surface functional relations using the processor of the one or more computing devices between variables of lens characteristics and an image profile of interest using the simulation calculations; and
evaluating specified aberration values of a lens in relation to the response surface functional relations using the processor of the one or more computing devices to provide an estimate of the image profile in a presence of specified aberration(s),
wherein the building steps includes:
providing an order fitting function expressed as:
I spx(x)=b 0 +b 1 x+b 2 x 2 +b 3x3 +. . . .+b n x n
where Ispx is aerial image intensity or amplitude at a simulation pixel (spx) and x indicates defocus; and
expressing a change of the coefficients b0 . . . bn described by an order fitting function expressed as:
=0, 1, 2, 3, . . . . , n;
bi(with aberration) and bi(w/o aberration) represents one of the coefficients b0. . . bn influenced by lens aberrations and the coefficients b0 . . . bn without aberrations, respectively, and
Δbi indicates the change in coefficients and is expressed by an nth order fitting function of jth Zernike coefficient cj,
φ0(ij) . . . φn(ij) are the coefficients of the fitting function, determined following the performing step of setup simulations of image profile as a function of regularly iterated values of lens aberration.
2. The method of
3. The method of
4. The method of
5. The method of
6. A method of calculating estimated image profiles implemented on a tangibly-embodied storage medium resident on one or more computing devices, comprising the steps of:
performing simulation calculations using a processor of the one or more computing devices for various levels for each aberration component using image configuration characteristic data;
building response surface functional relations using the processor of the one or more computing devices between variables of the image configuration characteristics and the image profile of interest using the simulation calculations as data input to be fit using:
I spx(x)=b 0 +b 1 x+b 2 x 2 +b 3 x 3 +. . . . +b n x n
where Ispx indicates aerial image intensity or amplitude at a simulation pixel (spx) and x indicates defocus; and
expressing a change of the coefficients b0 . . . bn using the processor of the one or more computing devices described by an order fitting function as:
bi(with aberration) and bi(w/o aberration) represents the coefficients b0 . . . bn influenced by lens aberrations and the coefficients b0 . . . bn, without aberrations, respectively,
Δbi indicates the change in coefficients and it is expressed by an nth order fitting function of jth Zernike coefficient cj; and
φ0(ij) . . . φn(ij) are the coefficients of the fitting function; and
summing an impact from at least one of all new specified aberration coefficients and combinations of aberration coefficients from the built response surface functional relations using the processor of the one or more computing devices to provide lens adjustment data.
7. The method of
8. The method of
the illumination data includes at least one of illumination distribution and illumination wavelength;
the lens data includes at least one of lens aberration, numerical aperture, pupil filters and lens configuration; and
the pattern data includes object (reticle pattern) layout.
9. The method of
10. The method of
11. The method of
12. The method of
13. The method of
defining a simulation pixel as a unit of horizontal or vertical position into which aerial image is divided;
calculating aerial image intensity or amplitude for each simulation pixel; and
executing the image simulation calculations at defocus positions to provide image profile response to focus data.
14. The method of
15. The method of
16. The method of
17. The method of
The present application is a U.S. national stage application of PCT/US04/04854, filed on Feb. 20, 2004, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/449,514, filed on Feb. 21, 2003.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a system and method for calculating image profiles on a surface and, more particularly, to a method and system to calculate estimated image profiles resulting from imaging in the presence of lens aberrations.
2. Background Description
The calculation of image profiles in the presence of lens aberrations has become a routine requirement. Image profiles come in many forms, with the aerial image profile being the most fundamental. The aerial image profile is defined as a description of the variation of optical energy (e.g. represented as �amplitude� or �intensity�) with physical location within or nearby some plane being considered, herein defined as the �image plane�. This optical image profile is known to impact all subsequent forms of image profile, such as the image profile within the developed photoresist, and the further subsequent image profile etched into a process layer on the wafer. Hence, the ability to simulate the impact of lens aberrations on the aerial image profile is a key requirement to being able to simulate any other image profile associated with later steps in the semiconductor manufacturing process.
These calculations of simulated aerial image profiles are important in the field of photolithography, especially in view of the decreased size of printed dimensions on a wafer surface. By way of example, technologies have reached beyond the 100 nm scale achieving, in some instances, over (100,000,000) transistors on a single wafer chip.
But to achieve such densities, it is important, for example, to adjust the projection lenses within the projection lithography tools for lens aberrations at several steps within the lens fabrication process, as well as during final installation at the end-user's wafer fabrication facility. This lens adjustment process may make use of a simulation calculation. This will ensure that �adjustment state� of a lens, as represented by the measurements of its lens aberration content, is optimum for the imaging of a particular specified target optimization pattern. Thus, adjustments to the lens can be prescribed and made throughout the fabrication process, and during the installation at the customer facility as well, while ensuring that the delivered image profile is within design parameters.
Many simulation packages are available commercially, but these simulation packages are exceptionally computationally intensive and thus are not very practical in the lens adjustment application described above. This is primarily due to the fact that the above typical lens adjustment application of image simulation would require new simulation calculations to be executed for each and every considered change of any one or more lens element positions. Since the mathematical optimization routines typically applied utilize many thousands of �trial adjustments� while they hunt for the best possible combination of all adjustments, this translates to many thousands of required image simulation calculations, if the image profile is to be used as a metric to evaluate the �goodness� of each considered lens adjustment combination.
A typical current image simulation technique, as described in more detail below, uses a very complex calculation for simulating an image profile on the wafer. However, with this simulation technique, a new calculation of a propagated aerial image is required each and every time a different set of aberration component values (most typically represented as Zernike Polynomial coefficient values, in current practice) is to be considered by the simulation environment. That is, for each set of new aberration components for which a corresponding image profile is desired:
But, this sort of �full� image simulation calculation is very time consuming and mathematically intensive. And since, for example, in the lens adjustment application mentioned above, many thousands of different possible lens adjustment trials will be considered, and for each trial lens adjustment many different positions within the exposure field (each with an independent aberration condition/series) must be considered, it is clear that executing full image simulations at each field point for every trial lens adjustment would not be efficient enough to be practical. If it is desired to use the simulated image profile as a metric to judge and rank the �goodness� of one particular lens adjustment state to another, a faster calculation of image profiles is necessary.
Partially Coherent Imaging Theory as typically applied in the field of photolithography image simulation is summarized below, as an illustration of the specific steps required in the current practice version of atypical calculation of an aberrated image profile. Specifically, to date the theoretical analysis of projection imaging (e.g. Koehler matched illumination, diffraction-limited projection lens, etc., as in photolithography) has primarily treated the illumination source as �quasi-monochromatic,� with each point in the illumination source yielding the image of any considered object-point �coherently�. The field of partial coherence has developed primarily as a study of the variation in imaging with a variation in the distribution of such illumination source-points.
By way of example, each illuminator source-point yields a spatial frequency spectrum on the projection lens entrance pupil sphere which is slightly shifted (in space) with respect to the spectrum arriving from a neighboring source-point. The result is that a fixed-position pupil-aperture passes a different �chunk� of the total spatial frequency spectrum emitted per object (for each illuminator source-point considered). In other words, this is one of the reasons for aberrations, which will impact on the image profile. And, when applying this method (or those related), each consideration of a new set of aberration coefficients requires a new mathematical treatment of applying the phase shift induced by the aberrations prior to the calculation of the final image profile. Under prior art which utilized such methods, this recalculation of the propagation of light from the pupil plane of the lens to the image plane is indeed executed each time a new or different set of aberration coefficients are to be considered.
As described above, to account for the many problems associated with the lens and light source, current imaging models sum the �intensity-image� contributions from each illumination source-point to build the final image irradiance (�intensity�) profile. A typical functional representation of a partially coherent image intensity begins with:
E is the electric field whose squared modulus becomes the intensity, both of which are shown to be a function of the source point at position {right arrow over (ρ)}0;
J({right arrow over (ρ)}0) is the effective illumination source distribution in the lens pupil, so in effect defines the attenuation of amplitude and/or shift of initial phase per source point being considered;
Ic is the coherent image from the single source point;
{right arrow over (r)} defines the lateral local image position vector (i.e. x/y position) in the image plane; and
z is the axial image position.
Further expanding the electric field portion:
�({right arrow over (ρ)}) is the Fourier Transform of the object transmission function;
P({right arrow over (ρ)}) is the lens transmission pupil function which is generally a one/zero real-valued function (but it is not forced to be so); and
F({right arrow over (ρ)},z) is the modification of the aerial image when considered in a thin film (required when modeling an image in photoresist).
Also, the exponential terms describe the propagation of the fields according to pupil position, with the first exponential containing the x-y functionality, the second exponential handling the z-propagation, and the last exponential mapping the phase aberration from a reference sphere in the lens exit pupil.
When viewed in conjunction with the first integral, the shifted version of the object's spatial frequency spectrum �({right arrow over (ρ)}) combines to yield a convolution of it with the effective illumination source distribution. It is the nature of this effective source distribution function J({right arrow over (ρ)}0) which drives whether any mutual interaction among different effective source points will exist or not. As discussed, in all current photolithography imaging models, the squared modulus of the electric field is taken for each source point considered, and the sum of these �illuminator source-point-based intensity profiles� is taken as the total image. The justification for this relates to the nature of the source. However, the very fundamentals of this sort of calculation technique demands recalculation of the light's path from the pupil of the projection lens to the image plane each and every time a change is made in the aberration content of the lens.
In the current practice of image simulation, commercial software packages exist that provide the capability of �image profile estimation� (e.g., Prolith� by KLA-Tencor). The core function that these software routines provide is the calculation of a propagated aerial image, with the optional follow-up calculation of a �developed image profile in resist�. Said otherwise, these software routines may calculate (i) the image profile transmitted by a lens which contains an input description of its aberration content (e.g., a set of Zernike coefficients), and (ii) the resultant image profile in the resist (either before or after development of the resist).
All such software programs, however, require a new calculation of a propagated aerial image each and every time a different set of aberration component values is to be considered. As discussed, this aberration calculation is necessarily complicated and still very time consuming. And when considered in light of applications which may require many tens or even hundreds of thousands of full image simulation calculations, such as the lens adjustment application described previously, it is seen that the application of such currently available software to this task would be prohibitive to achieving a result within allotted time constraints.
The invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.
In a first aspect of the invention, a method includes calculating estimated image profiles. The method includes providing lens imaging configuration characteristic data into an existing �full image simulator� and performing simulation calculations for various levels of input aberration components. A response surface functional relation is built between variables of the lens characteristics and the resulting image profile using the simulation calculations. 1
In embodiments of the invention, the imaging configuration includes lens data, illumination data and pattern data. The illumination data includes at least one of illumination distribution and illumination wavelength, and the lens data includes at least one of lens aberration, numerical aperture, pupil filters and lens configuration. Additionally, the pattern data includes object (reticle pattern) layout. Additional information such as, for example, focus and pattern bias information may also be used.
In another aspect of the invention, the simple linear relationship described above between each aberration coefficient and the resulting change in the image profile is not assumed to adequately describe the image simulation process. In those circumstances, it has been seen that the residual error (between linearly reconstructed image profile and full simulation image profile) can be significantly accounted for through the inclusion of �cross-terms� added to the image profile calculation.
In another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for representing the Image Profile using a basis �zero aberration Image Profile� (that is, an image profile simulated when all aberration values are set to zero) and set of functions which describe a change to the basis plot in the presence of non-zero aberration coefficients. The method includes the execution of simulation calculations for various levels of each aberration component. It then functionalizes the change in the image profile due to each aberration component (i.e., builds an interpolation routine which fits the set of discrete individual results into a general result represented by a function). One example of fitting the response of the �setup� image simulations to the response of the change in Image Profile is shown below, in this case using an order fitting function expressed as:
The curves described by these equations are the response surface functional relations that have been built using the setup simulation calculations. The impact from all specified aberration coefficients or combinations thereof may be summed up from the component response surface functional relations developed for each aberration component individually, and potentially to include cross-term.
In another aspect of the invention, an exposure apparatus includes an illumination system that projects radiant energy through a mask pattern on a reticle R that is supported by and scanned using a wafer positioning stage and at least one linear motor that positions the wafer positioning stage. The exposure apparatus also includes a system for providing optimal image profiling, including a mechanism for, in no specific order:
In an aspect of the invention, a mechanism may be provided for evaluating specified aberration values of a lens in terms of the impact on image profile through the response surface functional relations to judge the �goodness� or �badness� of each considered lens adjustment combination, where each lens adjustment combination to be considered is defined as a new set of aberration coefficients. From the aberration coefficients, a direct calculation of the image profile through application of the present invention is executed.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a device is manufactured with the exposure apparatus. Also, in an aspect of the invention, a wafer on which an image has been formed using the exposure apparatus is provided.
In still a further aspect of the invention, a system is provided for achieving optimal image profiles using specified aberration components. The system includes components for:
In yet a further aspect of the invention, a machine readable medium containing code for adjusting a lens is provided, and the present invention can provide feedback into that code based upon its calculations of image profiles, and regarding which lens adjustment prescription can yield the optimum image profile while satisfying all user constraints and targets. The machine readable medium includes the functionalities of the method of the inventions.
The foregoing and other objects, aspects and advantages will be better understood from the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which:
The invention is directed to a system and method for calculating estimated image profiles resulting from imaging in the presence of lens aberrations. The system and method significantly reduces processing times for calculating image profiles by executing only the evaluation of a simple function at the values specified for the aberration components. In more specificity, the system and method makes use of propagated aerial image calculations in a �setup� phase; however, this is performed only once for a given imaging configuration, which significantly reduces the need for additional processing resources during the subsequent calculation of image profiles for many various combinations of aberration components (representing various field positions within an exposure field, as well as various lens adjustment �states�, i.e., combinations of lens element adjustments). These �setup� simulations may be used as input data to load an �Image Profile Calculator� that is realized by the invention.
Following the setup simulations and loading of the Image Profile Calculator, all further Image Profiles may then subsequently be directly calculated using the established �aberration sensitivities�. By such direct calculation via evaluation of a fixed function, the invention effectively bypasses the need to have direct access to a commercial image simulation software package (at any time following the execution of the setup simulations).
The system and method of the invention may be applied equally to at least:
In other words, a direct mathematical relationship is developed connecting the input values of the aberration coefficients and the resulting image profile shape or plot. These set-up image simulations are executed for any specific pattern and illumination distribution (e.g., defined criteria) which is desired to be used as a judgment or optimization metric during the lens adjustment process. In effect, the image profile itself in the absence of all aberrations is considered to be the basis image profile, and can be thought of in the form of a plot of optical energy (e.g., amplitude or intensity) versus position, as shown in
Separately, through evaluation of the relationships between specified aberration values and the resulting image profile surface plots, functions can be fit and developed which describe a one-to-one relationship between a change in value of any single Zernike Coefficient and a resulting change in the delivered image profile. So in the application of this aspect of the invention, the reconstruction of a final image profile may be provided through the summing of the various aberration component profiles, each determined according to the magnitude of its aberration coefficient.
In Equation (4) below, the aberration content of the lens (at one single considered field point) is represented by the sum of Zernike Components, Zi(r,θ).
W(r, θ) is the total aberration represented as phase error as a function of radial position (r) and azimuth angle (θ) in the pupil plane of the lens;
Ai is the �Zernike coefficient� associated with each Zernike Aberration Component polynomial, Zi(r,θ).
In current practice, it is necessary to first calculate the sum W(r, θ) prior to executing the calculation of image profile information; however, the invention bypasses this requirement.
The Zernike polynomial terms corresponding to Zernike number 2 though Zernike number 37 are shown in Table 1 for reference. This fringe Zernike set is provided for illustrative and reference purposes only for implementing the system and method of the invention. These data points are not be considered a limiting feature of the invention.
In one example, each Zernike component is multiplied by an associated coefficient, Ai, which, in effect, is the measure of �how much� of each associated aberration component is added into the total. In the simplest application of the invention, the image profile is determined as an independent function of each different aberration component coefficient value.
As a visual example, Zernike #2 (Z2=A2 cos θ) is considered here, and in
A function is built (through fitting techniques to represent this change of surface plot as a function of A2 value. This is represented as the function �surfA2(A2,x,y)� in Equation (5), describing a surface plot (e.g., image intensity or amplitude as a function of x/y position within the image plane region) which varies as a function of the input variable A2. It is only necessary to supply a value of A2, and the shape of the surface function is fully known and described. Likewise, a similar function is built for each of the various aberration components and their associated coefficients, each providing a full description (in the form of a mathematical function) of the image profile plot that varies depending upon the input value of the given coefficient.
Thus, when presented with a set of Zernike Coefficients representing the aberration at a specified field point, the invention may calculate the final �aberrated image profile� through the simple summing of each of the separate image profile plots, each of which is responding only to a single aberration coefficient value. In this application and aspect of the invention, a linear response is assumed between the various aberration coefficients. This is supported mathematically and many times in practice due to the mathematical orthogonality between all of the terms of the Zernike Polynomial series. Mathematical orthogonality basically describes the fact that each of the various terms are unaffected by a change in value of any of the other terms.
So the invention is able to calculate an image profile for any presented set of aberration coefficients, while not requiring any further �full image simulation� calculations. In other words, the task of estimating the image profile in the presence of many different combinations of aberration coefficients has gone from one which required an image simulation calculation for each different set of coefficients, to one which requires the much simpler �look-up� of the direct relationship between the value of each coefficient and the component impact it has on the resulting image profile, and in implementations, summing the component Image Profiles to yield a final resultant �aberrated image profile�.
In a further application and extension of the response surface functional relationship construction process discussed thus far, the linear relationship described above between each aberration coefficient and the resulting change in the image profile can also be assumed not to adequately describe the image simulation process. Basically, there are occasions where the �one-term-to-one-impact� linear decomposition method described above and in Equation (4) is not entirely adequate. This is determined when the image profile calculated by this method deviates significantly from the result of a full image simulation calculation. In such circumstances, the residual error (between linearly reconstructed image profile and full simulation image profile) can be significantly accounted for through the inclusion of �cross-terms� added to the image profile calculation. Simply stated, such cross-terms are used to fill in the gaps when it is seen that the change in a given image profile as a result of the change of 2 coefficients is actually greater than the change predicted from the sum of each of the coefficients' impact individually. Equation (5) shows the inclusion of a cross-term relating the Zernike components labeled Z7 and Z14, Z8 and Z15, and the pair of Z9 and Z16.
This extension of the invention is a matter of extending the �Image Profile Reconstruction� technique described herein to include both linear recomposition of terms as well as non-linear and coupled recomposition of terms, as just described. In both cases, the same set of inputs is used (i.e., the coefficients of the Zernike Series, A1-A37). The only difference is that the second form of �reconstruction function� includes more terms than the linear form.
The series representation of phase error in the lens pupil, be it according to a Zernike or Seidel or other defined series expansion techniques, is in all cases, when being calculated for the purposes of an image simulation calculation, made up of a sum of a finite number individual components. The invention introduces a method for determining the image profile resulting from a simulation of an aberrated lens relying upon a set of aberration sensitivity functions, which are determined through the execution of a defined set of aberration sensitivity component simulations. The aberration sensitivity functions may include may include, for example, object (reticle) variables, lens configuration variables, illumination distribution (e.g., partial coherence sigma) variables, and lens aberration variables, to name but a few. These simulations serve to determine the sensitivity of the image profile to component aberrations and act as a base sampling for adjusting a lens according to other aberration components.
From each separate component simulation set, an image profile response surface can be generated, which mathematically relates the final image profile to the value of the specified aberration component (e.g., Z2 of the Zernike Polynomial Series, as in
An example of one form of lookup table built from the setup simulation calculations is shown in Table 2, below. That is, Table 2 shows an example of surface response function fit coefficients per simulation pixel (fit as a function of focus, for example)
In this example, Table 2 shows 5 different coefficients (b0 . . . b4) for each simulation pixel for the case of fitting to data generated by a simulation calculation at a single value of Zernike #2, considered exclusively. For each setup full simulation calculation executed, each simulation pixel is associated with a function representing the variation in its intensity value as a function of focus.
Table 3, below, is built from considering and fitting the contents of eleven copies of Table 2, each generated using a different value of aberration value. That is, Table 3 shows the result from fitting multiple versions of Table 2, where each version contains results from applying a different value of A2 (e.g., Zernike coefficient associated with Zernike #2).
In Table 3, each bn(per pixel) is fit as a function of aberration value variation. Thus the resulting bn(A2) is immediately known once a value of A2 is supplied. Knowing all bn allows the reconstruction of the intensity or amplitude vs. focus curve associated with the given simulation pixel. Such fitting of through-focus data is performed for each simulation pixel, and likewise each simulation pixel contributes a through-focus response curve to the overall image profile curves and data.
It should be well understood that the values of Tables 2 and 3 are provided for illustrative purposes, and are not to be considered limiting features for the purposes of the invention. Additionally, Table 3 can be built using any number of copies of Table 2, depending on the particular application.
Now, using the system and method of the invention, one such image profile response surface representation is created for each defined aberration component. When it is desired to evaluate the image profile resulting from any user-input combination of aberration components, it is only necessary to appropriately combine the results from each of the various aberration components. In implementation, the sum of aberration coefficients may be in the form of a simple linear sum of all components, or it may include additional terms corresponding to weighted cross-terms (Equation 5) (products) of various aberration component series coefficients.
The fact that an accurate estimate of an image profile can be realized via a simple �lookup� action or direct evaluation of a simple function on an existing response surface is an advantage to the invention over the existing standard practice. This significantly reduces the calculation task when desiring to estimate the image profile in the presence of an arbitrary set of aberration components (as represented by an arbitrary set of Zernike coefficients, for example). Thus, by using the system and method of the invention, only a set of look-up executions or direct evaluations of simple functions, followed by a combining and summing of these aberration components' respective image profile contributions, are required to estimate the final image profile. The advantage of the invention is fully realized, for example, when facing the task of calculating many hundreds or thousands of sets of aberration components, and can be appreciated to the fullest extent when each calculation of a single defined �set� of aberration components (e.g., 37 Zernike coefficients representing each of 30-40 positions within a defined exposure field area) is used as input into a subsequent calculation whose output is still another new set of aberration components, which in turn are to be re-evaluated for the resulting image profile in their presence.
Now understanding the above,
In one implementation, the sampling data may include, for example:
The data points of
As shown, the light intensity is along the vertical axis, with a perfect shadow image going to �0� from some arbitrary unit of amplitude or intensity, as delivered from the setup full image simulation calculations. As should be understood from this graphically representation, more shadow is represented by lower values along the vertical axis. In contrast, higher values are representative of greater light. Thus, as should be understood, a different shadow pattern or image profile will result at each different focus, where the focus range of the graphs represent from −0.25 to +0.25 micron of focus change.
However, as in
Also, as should now be understood by those of ordinary skill, the different values of aberration components will provide different changes in the image profile. And each different specific aberration component may yield its own shape of change to the image profile. This possibility is accounted for by executing the Aberration Sensitivity setup simulations for each potentially impacting aberration (e.g., Zernike) term and combinations of terms (e.g., cross-terms).
Referring to
The contour plots of
In one implementation of the invention, to build the response surface functional relations, a �simulation pixel� is defined as the unit of horizontal position into which aerial image is divided. In a representative example, a section of about 2.14 nm for the simulation pixel is used to obtain the desired accuracy. Next, the aerial image intensity is calculated on each simulation pixel with 11 steps of defocus (from −250 nm to 250 nm, 50 nm pitch). Then, 4th order fitting functions expressed as the following equation (5) are applied, and the coefficients b0 . . . b4 are stored for each simulation pixel, now representing the variation of image intensity as a function of focus level for a given value of aberration level and at the pixel position being considered.
Ispx indicates aerial image intensity at a simulation pixel (spx); and
x indicates defocus.
If the data being fit shows more rapid variation than the example shown, then higher order fitting function may be necessary in order to provide more accurate results. In this case, equation (5) may be represented more generally as:
Further, alternative methods and basis functions may be applied in the fitting of intensity response to focus change. For example, sinusoidal functions, such result from Fourier Transform operations (e.g., Fourier Transformation or Fast Fourier Transform algorithm intended to estimate the Fourier Transformation process), are also acceptable. Following the determination of the coefficients of fit of the data, the image intensity or amplitude at arbitrary defocus positions can now be obtained. By using the coefficients b0 . . . b4, it is possible to build the response surface functional relations of the invention using a construct as represented in equation (7), below.
In one example of interpolation to yield a response surface for a variation of aberration value, each of the coefficients b0 . . . b4, can be themselves plotted as a function of aberration coefficient value. Then, for any entered value of aberration coefficient value, a similar Image Profile Surface Plot of intensity or amplitude versus Focus is fully determined, as further described below.
To extend this description to include consideration of more than a single aberration coefficient, aerial image intensity is calculated on each simulation pixel with each of the coefficients of 36 Zernike terms (from Z2 to Z37) varied through 11 steps of the coefficient value (from −25 ml to 25 ml, 5 ml pitch). The calculations are examined at each of the defocus positions treated. The change of the coefficients b0 . . . b4 of the equation (4) is described by the 4th order fitting function expressed as equation (6).
It should be recognized, though, that Δbi can indicate the change in coefficients expressed by the nth order fitting function of jth Zernike coefficient cj. Additionally, total changes of the coefficients bi can be expressed as the summation of Δbi(cj) from Z2 to Zn. In these cases, equation (7) can be represented as:
As a result, five coefficients b0 . . . b4 are obtained for each simulation pixel if a set of Zernike coefficients are provided. Aerial image intensity or amplitude at the location of the simulation pixel for arbitrary defocus position is captured by the equation (4). Also, the 4th order fitting function then provides the image intensity or amplitude at any defocus position.
After the calculation of the aerial image intensity or amplitude, input of the nominal slice level (equals threshold applied to the aerial image profile data) provides the estimation of image width (e.g., �CD� (critical dimension)) including any impacts due to aberration and defocus. In the case of calculating estimated CDs from image profiles built in accordance with the invention, it is desirable to include those simulation pixels which are within close proximity to the appropriate portion of the aerial image profile. So while the above explanation indicates that the coefficient sets for all simulation pixels are determined from the setup simulations and subsequently used in the image profile reconstruction, in practice all of the simulation pixels' coefficients sets except in the region near the slice level intersection with the aerial image profile are not necessary to be calculated. When applied to this application, the calculation volume is quite small.
The flow diagram of
At step 500, a user enters specified data concerning the image configuration characteristics. These characteristics may include, for example, lens data, illumination data and pattern data. The illumination data may include at least one of illumination distribution (e.g., partial coherence sigma) and illumination wavelength, and the lens data may include at least one of lens aberration, numerical aperture, pupil filters and lens configuration. The pattern data may include object (reticle pattern) layout.
At step 505, the simulation calculations are performed for various levels of each aberration component (e.g., Zernike term). The result of this step is to provide the data necessary to program the image profile calculator. This data will then be used during the looped evaluation of many aberration combination values, as set forth in steps 520 and 525, for example. It should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that each different aberration value applied leads to one full image simulation calculation, and that by using the method and system of the invention, it is no longer necessary to calculate image profiles for each and every new aberration component provided by a user (which may results in thousands of calculations).
At step 510, the process of the invention builds response surface function relations between any of the variable position, intensity or amplitude, focus and all component aberration levels included in the simulation of step 505. The response surface function relations may be used as the look up table in the calculation of different aberration components to optimize image profiles. The response surface function relations are created using equations 6 and 8, above, for example.
At step 515, the user specifies the initial aberration values to be used in a new simulation. These aberration values may be obtained from a design of the lens. At step 520, the process of the invention sums the impact from all specified aberration coefficients from the response surface built for each aberration. That is, the processes use the calculated values of the aberration components, e.g., data points, and interpolates such data to coincide with the given aberration components in order to achieve a known image profile and the like. These new aberration components may be the coefficients b0 . . . bn, for example, now used in equation 6. The output is intensity or amplitude vs. position and/or focus for any arbitrary set of aberration values. As discussed above, each calculation is a simple evaluation of a fixed function.
At step 525, a user may change the aberration values and, at step 520, the calculation may be again performed for the changed values. Thus, by using the system and method of the invention, intensive and time consuming calculations do not have to be performed for each and every new aberration component.
The reaction force generated by the wafer stage 51 motion in the X direction can be canceled by motion of the base 1 and the additional actuator 6. Further, the reaction force generated by the wafer stage motion in the Y direction can be canceled by the motion of the following stage base 3A.
An illumination system 42 is supported by a frame 72. The illumination system 42 projects radiant energy (e.g., light) through a mask pattern on a reticle R that is supported by and scanned using a reticle stage RS. In one embodiment, the reticle stage RS may have a reticle coarse stage for coarse motion and a reticle fine stage for fine motion. In this case, the reticle coarse stage correspond to the translation stage table 100, with one degree of freedom. The reaction force generated by the motion of the reticle stage RS can be mechanically released to the ground through a reticle stage frame 48 and the isolator 54, in accordance with the structures described in JP Hei 8-330224 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,874,820, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. The light is focused through a projection optical system (lens assembly) 46 supported on a projection optics frame 75 and released to the ground through isolator 54.
An interferometer 56 is supported on the projection optics frame 75 and detects the position of the wafer stage 51 and outputs the information of the position of the wafer stage 51 to the system controller 30. A second interferometer 58 is supported on the projection optics frame 75 and detects the position of the reticle stage RS and outputs the information of the position to the system controller 30. The system controller 30 controls a drive control unit 140 to position the reticle R at a desired position and orientation relative to the wafer 130 or the projection optics 46. By using the system and method of the present invention, accuracy of the interferometer is maintained.
There are a number of different types of photolithographic devices. For example, apparatus 70 may comprise an exposure apparatus that can be used as a scanning type photolithography system, which exposes the pattern from reticle R onto wafer 130 with reticle R and wafer 130 moving synchronously. In a scanning type lithographic device, reticle R is moved perpendicular to an optical axis of projection optics 46 by reticle stage RS and wafer 130 is moved perpendicular to an optical axis of projection optics 46 by wafer positioning stage 52. Scanning of reticle R and wafer 130 occurs while reticle R and wafer 130 are moving synchronously but in opposite directions along mutually parallel axes parallel to the x-axis.
Alternatively, exposure apparatus 70 can be a step-and-repeat type photolithography system that exposes reticle R while reticle R and wafer 130 are stationary. In the step and repeat process, wafer 130 is in a fixed position relative to reticle R and projection optics 46 during the exposure of an individual field. Subsequently, between consecutive exposure steps, wafer 130 is consecutively moved by wafer positioning stage 52 perpendicular to the optical axis of projection optics 46 so that the next field of semiconductor wafer 130 is brought into position relative to projection optics 46 and reticle R for exposure. Following this process, the images on reticle R are sequentially exposed onto the fields of wafer 130 so that the next field of semiconductor wafer 130 is brought into position relative to projection optics 46 and reticle R.
However, the use of apparatus 70 provided herein is not limited to a photolithography system for semiconductor manufacturing. Apparatus 70 (e.g., an exposure apparatus), for example can be used as an LCD photolithography system that exposes a liquid crystal display device pattern onto a rectangular glass plate or a photolithography system for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head. Further, the present invention can also be applied to a proximity photolithography system that exposes a mask pattern by closely locating a mask and a substrate without the use of a lens assembly. Additionally, the present invention provided herein can be used in other devices, including other semiconductor processing equipment, machine tools, metal cutting machines, and inspection machines.
In the illumination system 42, the illumination source can be g-line (436 nm), i-line (365 μm), KrF excimer laser (248 μm), ArF excimer laser (193 nm) or F2 laser (157 μm). Alternatively, the illumination source can also use charged particle beams such as x-rays and electron beam. For instance, in the case where an electron beam is used, thermionic emission type lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) or tantalum (Ta) can be used as an electron gun. Furthermore, in the case where an electron beam is used, the structure could be such that either a mask is used or a pattern can be directly formed on a substrate without the use of a mask.
With respect to projection optics 46, when far ultra-violet rays such as the excimer laser is used, glass materials such as quartz and fluorite that transmit far ultra-violet rays are preferably used. When the F2 type laser or x-rays are used, projection optics 46 should preferably be either catadioptric or refractive (a reticle should also preferably be a reflective type), and when an electron beam is used, electron optics should preferably comprise electron lenses and deflectors. The optical path for the electron beams should be traced in vacuum.
Also, with an exposure device that employs vacuum ultra-violet radiation (VUV) of wavelength 200 nm or shorter, use of the catadioptric type optical system can be considered. Examples of the catadioptric type of optical system include the disclosure Japan Patent Application Disclosure No. 8-171054 published in the Official Gazette for Laid-Open Patent Applications and its counterpart U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,672, as well as Japanese Patent Application Disclosure No. 10-20195 and its counterpart U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,275. In these cases, the reflecting optical device can be a catadioptric optical system incorporating a beam splitter and concave mirror. Japanese Patent Application Disclosure No. 8-334695 published in the Official Gazette for Laid-Open Patent Applications and its counterpart U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,377 as well as Japanese Patent Application Disclosure No. 10-3039 and its counterpart U.S. Pat. No. 5,892,117 also use a reflecting-refracting type of optical system incorporating a concave mirror, etc., but without a beam splitter, and can also be employed with this invention. The disclosures in the above-mentioned U.S. patents, as well as the Japanese patent applications published in the Office Gazette for Laid-Open Patent Applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Further, in photolithography systems, when linear motors that differ from the motors shown in the above embodiments (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,623,853 or 5,528,118) are used in one of a wafer stage or a reticle stage, the linear motors can be either an air levitation type employing air bearings or a magnetic levitation type using Lorentz force or reactance force. Additionally, the stage could move along a guide, or it could be a guideless type stage that uses no guide. The disclosures in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,623,853 and 5,528,118 are incorporated herein by reference.
Alternatively, one of the stages could be driven by a planar motor, which drives the stage by electromagnetic force generated by a magnet unit having two-dimensionally arranged magnets and an armature coil unit having two-dimensionally arranged coils in facing positions. With this type of driving system, either one of the magnet unit or the armature coil unit is connected to the stage with the other unit is mounted on the moving plane side of the stage.
Movement of the stages as described above generates reaction forces that can affect performance of the photolithography system. Reaction forces generated by the wafer (substrate) stage motion can be mechanically released to the floor (ground) by use of a frame member as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,118 and published Japanese Patent Application Disclosure No. 8-166475. Additionally, reaction forces generated by the reticle (mask) stage motion can be mechanically released to the floor (ground) by use of a frame member as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,874,820 and published Japanese Patent Application Disclosure No. 8-330224. The disclosures in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,528,118 and 5,874,820 and Japanese Patent Application Disclosure No. 8-330224 are incorporated herein by reference.
As described above, a photolithography system according to the above described embodiments can be built by assembling various subsystems in such a manner that prescribed mechanical accuracy, electrical accuracy and optical accuracy are maintained. In order to maintain the various accuracies, prior to and following assembly, every optical system is adjusted to achieve its optical accuracy. Similarly, every mechanical system and every electrical system are adjusted to achieve their respective mechanical and electrical accuracies. The process of assembling each subsystem into a photolithography system includes mechanical interfaces, electrical circuit wiring connections and air pressure plumbing connections between each subsystem. Needless to say, there is also a process where each subsystem is assembled prior to assembling a photolithography system from the various subsystems. Once a photolithography system is assembled using the various subsystems, total adjustment is performed to make sure that accuracy is maintained in the complete photolithography system. Additionally, it is desirable to manufacture an exposure system in a clean room where the temperature and humidity are controlled.
Further, semiconductor devices can be fabricated using the above described systems, by the process shown generally in
At each stage of wafer processing, when the above-mentioned preprocessing steps have been completed, the following post-processing steps are implemented. During post-processing, initially in step 315 (photoresist formation step), photoresist is applied to a wafer. Next, in step 316 (exposure step), the above-mentioned exposure apparatus is used to transfer the circuit pattern of a mask (reticle) to a wafer. Then, in step 317 (developing step), the exposed wafer is developed, and in step 318 (etching step), parts other than residual photoresist (exposed material surface) are removed by etching. In step 319 (photoresist removal step), unnecessary photoresist remaining after etching is removed. Multiple circuit patterns are formed by repetition of these pre-processing and post-processing steps.
The system and method of the invention may be implemented to provide several resultant scenarios. For example, the following implementations are possible, as illustrations:
Image Profile Intensity or Amplitude
The system and invention may be implemented to calculate image profile intensity or amplitude values as a function of some combination of position in image field, focus, and aberration value. In this implementation, the above equations (6) and (8), or others performing an equivalent fitting of the data and transformation into a set of coefficients, may be used in both �in air� and as �captured in photoresist� image profiles. Coefficients determined in this manner serve to build response surface(s) which provide a direct functional description of the response of intensity or amplitude vs. image field position and focus (i.e., generate fit coefficients describing aerial image intensity or amplitude as a function of some combination of position, focus, and aberration magnitude).
Once the response surfaces have been built, as described above, the system and method can then �reconstruct� aberrated image profiles for any combination of aberration values through a linear summation of identified aberration components, e.g. Zernike Series as one definition of aberration components. This could include products of Zernike Coefficients as separately defined aberration components (i.e., �aberration cross-terms).
Now, using the system and method of the invention, each reconstruction of another arbitrary combination of aberration values requires a simple plug-in of aberration values, with a straightforward evaluation of a simple equation (that employing the b0 . . . b4 coefficients in the example previously described) being all that is required to determine the �intensity or amplitude vs. position and focus� distribution for any specified aberration value set. This distribution is one form of Image Profile. Thus, following the setup simulations, Image Profiles have been directly calculated without the use of further full direct image simulation calculation. These surface plot equations representing the Image Profile relate to the interpolation process used with the invention.
Developed Resist Image
Much like described in the first implementation (Image Profile Intensity or amplitude), the system and method of the invention may be implemented to fit to complete image profile resist thickness and/or width values as a function of some combination of position in image field, focus, and aberration value.
This can be implemented using the reconstruct as described throughout the description, by those of ordinary skill in the art. That is, using known software packages such as Prolith�, image profile resist thickness and/or width values can be calculated using the look up table of the invention, as a last step in a simulation calculation. In effect, the descriptions and Figures presented regarding the Intensity or amplitude Image Profile can be applied to the Developed Resist Image Profile, with the simple substitution of �resist thickness� for �intensity� in any of the graphs and plots.
Etched Image Profile
Much like described in the first implementation (Image Profile Intensity or amplitude), the invention may be implemented to calculate the �Etched Image Profile�. This is accomplished by fit to complete layer thickness and/or width in exposed substrate layer values as a function of some combination of position in image field, focus, and aberration value, using the reconstruct as described above.
In effect, the descriptions and Figures presented regarding the Intensity or amplitude Image Profile can be applied to the Etched Image Profile, with the simple substitution of �film thickness� for �intensity� in any of the graphs and plots.
Deviation Calculations
The invention may be implemented to fit to impact upon (deviation from) an ideal (no lens aberration) simulated aerial image intensity or amplitude in both �in air� and as �captured in photoresist� image profiles. To accomplish this method, reconstruction proceeds as described, with the exception that the final determined impact on aerial image intensity or amplitude is added to the aberration-free aerial image intensity profile (vs. position and focus).
Developed Resist Image Profile
The invention may be implemented to fit to Impact upon (deviation from) an ideal (no lens aberration) simulated complete set of image profile resist thickness and/or width values as a function of some combination of position in image field, focus, and aberration value, in accordance with the implementation of deviation calculations.
Etched Image Profile
The invention may be implemented to fit to impact upon (deviation from) an ideal (no lens aberration) simulated layer thickness and/or width in exposed substrate layer values as a function of some combination of position in image field, focus, and aberration value, in accordance with the implementation of deviation calculations.
As an illustrative example, consider the task of optimizing the adjustment of microlithography projection lens towards the goal of maximum performance in the imaging of some specified pattern or patterns. It is well established that different patterns illuminate (i.e. utilize) different portions of the projection lens pupil when being exposed. This results from the optical process of diffraction, which directs light into different angular distributions depending upon the object pattern being imaged. Hence, it may be possible that different lens adjustments may lead to optimized imaging performance between such different patterns.
In order to assist in the determination of such an optimized lens adjustment prescription for a pattern or combination of patterns, the invention may be applied such that all actual image simulation calculations (i.e., the simulation of the propagation of light from the object plane, through the projection lens containing a specified combination of aberration components, and finally to the image plane where it ultimately yields an image profile) are executed prior to the optimization. Further, these �set-up� simulation executions need only be executed once for each defined pattern, and the results can be applied and re-used at any time in the future, requiring only an input set of aberration component values. In effect, the simulations serve to �load� the �Image Profile Calculator�, i.e., the reconstruct having the calculated data points, which then applies the methods of the invention to reconstruct image profiles from any subsequently input set of aberration component values.
While the invention has been described in terms of embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
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Bellows Falls voters approve reduced budgetJune 25,2013Staff Report
BELLOWS FALLS — Village voters narrowly approved a revised annual village budget Monday night during a special meeting, 52-43.
On a nine-vote margin, voters approved a $1,803,038 budget, which would require $1,697,934 to be raised by taxes. The new spending plan didn't have a ninth police officer for the Bellows Falls Village Police Department.
The Bellows Falls Village Trustees had proposed restoring the ninth officer, which was eliminated in 2009, but voters at the annual village meeting in May made clear they couldn't afford another officer.
However, voters turned down a move to level-fund the village budget, which would have cut the police department's overtime budget.
Some voters made clear Monday night they were reaching their breaking point when it came to taxes, with several people suggesting the village disband as an entity, shifting responsibility for fire protection to the town of Rockingham, leaving police coverage in limbo.MORE IN This Just InVermont hazardous-materials team members were at the Asa Bloomer state office building in... Full StoryHoliday Festival Full StorySpeed blamed Full Story
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- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: Wisconsin Sen. Joe McCarthy takes advantage of Cold War jitters and builds a tidy little fiefdom for himself on Capitol Hill. It's all good, but pride goes before you know darn well what. The junior senator is damaged going down.
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Alfresco Home Canyon Burning Fire Pit Table
Alfresco Home Canyon Burning Fire Pit Table
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|Table Shape: Square
|Style: Contemporary
|Finish: Brown
|Frame Material: Metal
|Country of Manufacture: China
About the ManufacturerEntrepreneur and President Joseph Cilio had one thing in mind when he began Alfresco Home - to meet a desire for decorators that was not being fulfilled. This need has since developed into a growing trend. What Cilio had in mind was a mixture of inside and outside style furniture that could be placed in both atmospheres so that people could "enjoy the lifestyle of alfresco living." Thus, the birth of Alfresco Home.
Alfresco Home designs high end furniture with a single purpose: to blend together the idea of indoor and outdoor spaces as being separate. Alfresco Home looks to make unique, quality furniture that can be used to decorate both atmospheres! Offering a full line of dining and deep-seating pieces, as well as indoor accent furniture, garden accent furniture, fountains, and more, are what makes Alfresco Home a revolutionary company in a time when something new is desperately needed in home design and decoration!
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RYAN Clarke and Andy Whing will miss Oxford United's pre-season after it emerged the pair need operations.
Clarke, United's player of the season, requires surgery to correct a long-standing problem affecting a bone in one of the goalkeeper's feet.
Whing has been suffering with a hip injury and will go under the knife tomorrow.
Both will be ruled out of pre-season, while Clarke is expected to miss the first month of the 2014/15 campaign, which begins on August 9.
- Andy Whing needs a hip operation
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Her Homeland character Fara has leapt into action this season. We asked actress Nazanin Boniadi what she makes of the Channel 4 show post-Brody and why Benedict Cumberbatch would be her dream co-star.
The new season of Channel 4 drama Homeland has seen Nazanin Boniadi's character Fara morph dramatically from quiet CIA analyst to a key player on the show, working out in the field as live-wire Carrie (Claire Danes)'s protégé. In the flesh the 34-year-old – who also recently squeezed in a run on another hot US TV series, Scandal – is teeny-tiny and more polished than her on-screen persona. "They put a scarf on my head in the last series and I'm wearing little to no make-up" she says. "It takes people a while before they go 'oh you're THAT girl!'"
Tehran-born but London-raised Nazanin (pronounced 'Nazaneen') originally wanted to be a doctor, but a change of heart in her final year at University of California, Irvine (where she moved from home in London to study) switched her onto a new career track that began with bit parts on General Hospital, How I Met Your Mother and a cameo on Iron Man before she wound up scoring her 'dream role' on Homeland. We sat down with her to find out what makes her tick.
So let's talk about Homeland. Is the show proving there's life after Brody?
"I absolutely loved Brody on the show, so I was really cautious when I got the script for the first episode. But reading it I just thought 'wow, how have they managed in one hour to completely reboot it?'"
Your character Fara has a bigger action role this season…
"She proved herself last year in Carrie's eyes because she put her own family at risk to help Brody, so she's been brought into her team and is working on the ground in Pakistan. She really does get her hands dirty. She's an agent now, not just an analyst."
Do you think it's a good time for women in television?
"In a lot of ways I think television is better for women than film. I look at Claire [Danes] and her character and how incredibly multi-faceted she is, and I've also come from working on Scandal where Kerry Washington is another strong female lead."
Like Fara you're originally from Iran. Do you remember much from early life there?
"No, my parents fled to London when I was 20 days old during the revolution. Going back to visit in my early teens it was so different to the way my parents had described it. Back then my mum would walk around in a miniskirt with red lipstick on and nobody would think anything of it. I remember feeling appalled that I had to wear a headscarf. Clothes are a big part of a free society – I think – and what you wear is so indicative of the political climate you're living in."
How did your family react to you becoming an actress?
"The entertainment industry isn't a line of work encouraged in the Persian culture. When I called my dad to say I wanted to quit medicine there was about three minutes of silence. I'm not sure he knew what to do with himself! I said 'give me a year and if things don't work out I'll have a rethink.'"
Ironically your first part was on General Hospital!
"Dad never let me live that one down, he'd say, 'you're not a doctor, now you're an actor playing a nurse on television', but it was the second audition I ever did. It's been an interesting progression, going from soap to a sitcom with How I Met Your Mother and now being a series regular on Homeland. It's exactly the role I've always dreamed of."
Do you get recognised much?
"I get recognised more for How I Met Your Mother and Scandal as I look so different on Homeland. I've only really seen crazy fan interactions from watching Damian [Lewis]. He just gets mobbed. I think it's the female fans, the men don't quite have that level of energy!"
What's in your wardrobe at home?
"It's quite fitted. Though when I do fashion shoots or I'm filming my style often shifts because I'm influenced by the clothes. When I was on How I Met Your Mother I wore my character's brown leather jacket for a year after I wrapped the show!"
Who would be your dream co-star to work with next?
"Benedict Cumberbatch. He's absolutely amazing. I love that keen sense of intelligence. Claire is bursting with it, too. It makes me go 'this is great, I want to learn from you'."
Homeland airs Sundays at 9pm on Channel 4
If brains, beauty, and talent are the holy trifecta in Hollywood, then Nazanin Boniadi has hit the jackpot. And then some. Had she followed her original career path, the Tehran-born, London-raised actress would be better known as Dr. Nazanin Boniadi by now. But in the midst of applying to medical school after earning her degree in biology from the University of California, Irvine, (where she was awarded the Chang Pin-Chun Award for her work in cancer and heart transplant-rejection research), Boniadi realized it wasn't meant to be her path in life. But acting? Well, that was a different story.
Less than a year after trading classrooms for casting calls, the now-34-year-old actress who is better known as "Naz" to her friends landed her first part. Shortly thereafter she became a series regular on—wait for it—General Hospital, where she blazed new trails by becoming the first Iranian-born actress on contract to an American soap opera and the first Middle Eastern series regular. Roles in Charlie Wilson's War, Iron Man, and The Next Three Days followed, as did a one-season guest spot on How I Met Your Mother (where she played a love interest for Neil Patrick Harris).
But the past year has been the big one for Boniadi, who landed major roles on the third seasons of two of television's biggest series: as FBI analyst and Saul Berenson protégé Fara Sherazi on Homeland, and as the mysterious terrorist Adnan Salif in Scandal. This month, Boniadi will reprise her Homeland character, now as a series regular and full-on field agent. At the same time, she's become a familiar face on the activist scene, working as a spokesperson for Amnesty International and as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Boniandi spoke with us from Cape Town, South Africa, where she's finishing up filming on the Showtime hit's fourth season, to talk about acting, activism, and starting from scratch.
DETAILS: You earned a degree in biology and were on your way to medical school. How did you end up in Hollywood?
Nazanin Boniadi: I think my goal in life was to try to find an occupation where I could help people. Now how I ended up in acting? [Laughs.] Being from a Persian background, the culture encourages you to follow a very academic career—medicine, law, engineering—but the arts aren't really encouraged. So while I was in high school, I was very much into the performing arts—I was in school plays, I did ballet, I played the violin—but it was only encouraged as a hobby. So I got my degree in biology, with honors. And I worked really hard to get the honors. It wasn't one of those career paths that was like, 'OK, this feels right because it's really easy for me to get an A.' I worked so hard. And with that comes the feeling of, 'Well, this doesn't feel right because it doesn't feel like home to me.' It felt like I was working a lot harder than everybody else who was getting As. So I called my dad in England and said, 'Listen, I graduated with honors in a degree that you feel happy with. Now I want to do what I want to do.' And he said, 'What's that? Do you want to go to law school?' And then he listed all these very academic things, and I said, 'Actually, I want to act.' There was about three minutes of silence, and I said, 'Dad? Are you still there? Are you okay?' I think it was hard for him to accept because I was in my mid-20s at that point, and he was understandably worried because I was embarking on something that I had no professional experience in—or even academic experience; I hadn't studied it or anything. So I said, 'Listen, give me a year. If I fail miserably and make no progress, then I'll go to medical school or I'll do something academic.' I guess I'm lucky, because nine months after that I got my SAG card and I booked my first job.
DETAILS: Was there a particular event or moment that you can point to that really made you decide, 'Okay, I'm doing this! I'm switching gears and I'm going to take a chance on an acting career?'
Nazanin Boniadi: As I was applying to medical school I had this kind of epiphany that I was about to commit myself to four more years of studying, of going to medical school, and then the whole residency and internship. And that's not where my heart was leading me. So it was really a matter of just being very honest with myself, as scary as that was. And it was very scary, even for me, as I was halfway to the finish mark of being a doctor and I decided to start from scratch. Being from an academic background I knew that I had to study acting; it wasn't like I was just going to say, 'Okay, I'm an actress now.' So I really started from the bottom and became a student in something that I had no experience in. So it was very scary. Part of the medical-school application is writing essays on why you want to be a doctor, so it's really like therapy. [Laughs.] You really have to start being honest with yourself. And as I was writing these essays as to why I want to do what I want to do, I realized, Yes, I do have a primary goal of helping people, but there are other ways of doing that.
DETAILS: Which makes it fairly ironic that one of your first major roles was on General Hospital. At least you could call your dad and tell him that!
Nazanin Boniadi: Yes. But of course he said, "Why are you playing a nurse? Couldn't they have made you a doctor?" [Laughs.]
DETAILS: You became the first Iranian-born actress on contract for an American soap and also the first contract actress to play a Middle Eastern character on daytime television, both of which are pretty big feats—especially for someone just starting out in her career. Did you feel any pressure when it came to being a bit of a trailblazer in Hollywood for Middle Eastern actors? Were there certain aspects of the character's heritage that were important for you to portray?
Nazanin Boniadi: Sure. Because there aren't too many Iranians in Hollywood, there was the responsibility of trying my best to represent the community as best as I could. But there were definitely people who opened the doors for me: Shohreh Aghdashloo, the Academy Award nominee from House of Sand and Fog, is a trailblazer, Shaun Toub, who was on Homeland last season, he's been around for decades in Hollywood. Being in my own kind of category, of course there comes a responsibility with that. But, for me, I can't take that too seriously. At the end of the day the goal is to do the best job you can do, go home, and forget about it.
DETAILS: You also spent a season on How I Met Your Mother, which allowed you to transition into a bit of comedy. For you personally is it easier to do comedy or drama?
Nazanin Boniadi: For me, drama always feels a lot more comfortable. I remember when I was cast on How I Met Your Mother, thinking, 'This is interesting that they think I can be funny.' Because I've never found myself to be funny. But then family members would say, 'Naz, you're quirky!' In my personal life I'm told that I'm pretty quirky, and I still to this day don't really know what that means. I guess it means that they find me odd? [Laughs.]
DETAILS: On the show you played one of the few actual loves of Neil Patrick Harris's notorious ladies man, Barney. What is it that attracts you to someone in real life?
Nazanin Boniadi: Physically, it's the eyes. As corny as it sounds, they are the windows to the soul. But by rule I find a good sense of humor extremely attractive. Somebody who knows how to laugh and smile at life.
DETAILS: You're coming back to Homeland this season as a series regular. Were you a fan of the show before you were cast on it?
Nazanin Boniadi: I had had friends who were guest stars, so I had followed the show—I found it gripping and extremely well-written and well-acted, of course—but I hadn't watched it from the beginning. I wasn't an avid watcher until I got the job, and when I did, I marathoned it in about 48 hours. Not because I had to, but because I was glued. [Laughs.] Then I realized what the fuss is about because I basically became a fan of the show that I'm on, which you can't always say as an actor. You can't always say that you're a genuine fan of the show that you're doing.
DETAILS: What was it that most attracted you to the character of Fara?
Nazanin Boniadi: I think that Homeland has created a ground-breaking character. She is so multifaceted and, in my opinion, the first prominent Muslim on television that is just a human being. She's not a cliché. She's no angel, she's no devil, she's just a person. And just like Carrie, the protagonist of the show, who is flawed but is basically good. Fara's the same; there's no difference. And being Muslim is secondary to the fact that she is just a girl trying to make her way through life. So in that sense I found her very compelling. The way she was written was not cliché to me at all, and it was a great moment when I booked the role. I was at the Cannes Film Festival, and I remember just looking at an e-mail from my agent and I literally squealed. All of these film people were looking at me like, "Why is this woman squealing?" But it was that exciting for me to get this job, because there are just so many directions that she can be taken in.
DETAILS: What sort of research did you have to do for the role?
Nazanin Boniadi: Luckily I am Iranian, so I drew from just growing up in an Iranian family and knowing the culture firsthand. But also, because of my ties with Amnesty International and now the Council on Foreign Relations, I'm very tapped into that world. So we actually got assigned a book to read this season, which was a Council on Foreign Relations book, which was how I became a member. So I had the luxury of calling the author of the book and picking his brain about what life is like in Pakistan. So I basically just asked him every single question that I had about how my character would be in that setting and what the customs and mores are of being in that country. Because although Fara's Muslim, she's Iranian, so I wanted to make that part realistic. People assume that all Muslim countries are the same, when they're not. So you have to kind of find your own answers. And then you are going to find that Fara is very different this season than she was last season because she's not an analyst anymore, she's an agent. So she's in the field and she's undercover, so she's continuing to learn the art of espionage throughout this season. So I spoke to people in the national-security arena and then just did a lot of reading, a lot of YouTube watching, and a lot of talking to experts.
DETAILS: Is there anything more action-oriented in store for her this season now that her role has changed?
Nazanin Boniadi: It's definitely more action-oriented. She gets her hands dirty. Weapons training? Not yet. We are halfway through the season, so let's see what the rest of the season has in store. [Laughs.]
DETAILS: What about any sort of fight training?
Nazanin Boniadi: Not yet, but she's definitely out there as far as taking risks. I will say that the thing I love most about Fara is that she's a very strong character but she often surprises herself with her strength. I don't think she realizes quite how brave and strong she is, so when she does something that's quite risky, it's this moment of, 'Oh, goodness. I just did that!'
DETAILS: She's also a very intelligent, strong woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind, which I think can make her intimidating at times. And seems like something you could relate to. Do you think that people find you intimidating in real life?
Nazanin Boniadi: I'm quite petite in real life, so I think that there's an assumption that people who come in small packages are sweet and demure and naive. And not to say that I'm not sweet, but I definitely am outspoken and anybody who follows my human-rights activities knows that I have no problem standing in front of hundreds of people and speaking my mind. It's interesting this whole idea of looking at someone and assuming who they are, which is also why I love playing [this character] because I can relate to that.
DETAILS: Speaking of your activism: I just read a piece that you wrote on gender-based violence for The Huffington Post, which was great. How does your activism influence the roles that you choose? Do you look for work that allows you to say something about the causes that are most important to you?
Nazanin Boniadi: I try to, definitely, [but] I don't always have the luxury to. Because at the end of the day I just have to work. And those roles are very limited. Not too long ago I was actually telling Alex Gansa, our show runner and creator, 'Thank you for giving me this job because it fuses the two worlds that I love so much together.' And then I have a film coming out, Desert Dancer, where I have a relatively small, supporting role, but it was a passion project. It comes out in March in the States and it's being released by Relativity. Freida Pinto, Tom Cullen and Reece Ritchie are the leads, and I loved it because it's based on a true human-rights story set in Iran. And how often are you able to find material like that? I thrive in those roles.
DETAILS: Activism has sort of become a part-time pastime in Hollywood for some people, who are really just lending their name or face to a cause. You're actually out there doing the work, traveling to speak to groups, and writing articles about these issues. Do you think that anytime somebody lends his or her name to a cause is a good thing? Or is it important that really get their hands dirty?
Nazanin Boniadi: I love working at ground zero. I love grassroots activism as much as I love lending my name to something. I think the most important thing is that it comes from a genuine place. I was born in the height of the Iranian Revolution; it's part of my consciousness to want to change conditions for the better in Iran. It's something I was raised with, so it's in my blood. But people around me sometimes have to say, 'No, you are an actress. Don't forget that.' Because sometimes I throw myself into the activism and make that the priority in my life. So it just has to come naturally. And if it's genuine, then I always applaud it.
DETAILS: Did you have any desire to step behind the camera and document some of the work that you're doing, or write or direct a project based on these issues?
Nazanin Boniadi: I don't know about the future, but for now I will leave it to people who are much, much better at it than I would be. I will stick to the acting and try to perfect this, or try to grow as much as I can as an actor and be the type of actor I want to be before I even embark on something that sounds to me so all-encompassing.
DETAILS: I know you can't tell us very much about the new season of Homeland, but what's one little thing you can tease us with about the upcoming season?
Nazanin Boniadi: You're going to see Fara in a way that you've never seen her. In fact I think the first moment she's reintroduced in the storyline, which is episode three, you're going to see Fara and say, 'Wow, that's not the Fara that we're used to.' She's going to be very different from what she was last year. She's headed in a different direction. And the characters have shifted. Saul used to be the director of the CIA, now he's out on the field, outside the CIA. Carrie has been elevated in the CIA. You're going to see Quinn facing a lot of demons and more things that he needs to overcome. And then Fara's being mentored by Carrie this season. It was Saul last season, now it's Carrie. So it's a fresh start.
DETAILS: And the women are finally taking over.
Nazanin Boniadi: Exactly. [Laughs.]
Showtime's Homeland concluded a trilogy of sorts with its Season 3 finale, as Nicholas Brody (played by Damian Lewis) — a disgraced Marine sergeant who loomed large as both a sometime threat to his own country and as a pivotal figure in CIA officer Carrie Mathison's life — was written off the canvas in a quite definitive manner.
With Brody removed from the equation, Carrie (Claire Danes) stationed in Islamabad and her onetime boss Saul Berenson toiling for a private military contract as Season 4 opens this Sunday at 9/8c (with two new episodes), "It is a clean start for Carrie," showrunner Alex Gansa tells TVLine.
Yet as Carrie grapples with a massive crisis, one somewhat of her own doing, in the geo-politlcal arena, she will also have to juggle "a number of" significant relationships in her life, Gansa says.
"She has an important relationship with her little six-month-old daughter [Frannie]," Gansa notes. "She has an important relationship with the memory of Brody; and she's got a burgeoning relationship — although not romantic yet — with Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend)," who now works alongside Martha Boyd (In Treatment's Laila Robins), the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan. Complicating the Carrie/Quinn dynamic is the fact that since the events of Season 3, the latter has developed a distaste for the CIA's comfort with "kill lists" and "bulletproof" decisions.
Carrie also will serve as a mentor to Farah Sharazi (Nazanin Boniadi), "who never trained to be a case officer, but Carrie needed people she could trust on the ground there," Gansa explains, as well as develop a bond with Aayan Ibrahim (Life of Pi's Suraj Sharma), a Pakistani med student possessing a unique perspective on the calamity that sets Season 4 in motion.
Saul, meanwhile, Episode 404"is not happy at all" with his new position in the private sector, which portends to create new, unneeded friction with wife Mira (Sarita Choudhury). "The money is good but Saul is an archetypal Washington figure, a guy who's lived at the center of things for so many years," Gansa explains. "Now that he finds himself not in that gravitational pull of world events, he misses it desperately."
Yet even with Andrew Lockhart (Tracy Letts) still lording over the CIA, Saul will be rescued from his new, New York City-based existence as the season unfolds, when all hands are needed on deck to stem the bleeding of the aforementioned crisis. As a result, says Gansa, "Carrie and Saul both get to do things that they were trained to do, which is serve overseas."
Moving on from the Brody years and returning Carrie to what she does best — which, as seen in early episodes, certainly is not mothering! — Homeland is poised to return to its own original mission, which is to hold a mirror up to the world and find drama to mine from that.
Notes Gansa: "It's sometimes difficult to read the front page of the paper these days, and the tone [of Season 4] reflects whats going on in the world right now, which is pretty scary."
Homeland star Nazanin Boniadi has said that season four – the first without Damian Lewis – is "very much a reboot" of the series.
Lewis' chracter – tragic ex-marine Nicholas Brody – was executed by Iranian authorities in season three's finale, 'The Star'.
"Alex Gansa [series showrunner] and the writers are masterminds at reinvention," Boniadi – who plays CIA operative Fara – told Digital Spy.
"The fact that they kept Brody alive for three seasons and still kept it interesting is testament to that, because I think Alex has gone on the record and said that they had plans to kill Brody early on and they couldn't, because he was just so good.
"But there's only so much do with that character – because of the nature of the character – and I think everybody realized it was time to move on from that storyline. No character but Carrie (Claire Danes) is safe on this show."
Boniadi described season four of Homeland – which premieres tonight in the US and next Sunday in the UK – as "a whole new adventure".
"It's very much a reboot – if you haven't seen seasons 1-3, you can start watching season four and I don't think you'd be too lost," she said.
Homeland returns to Channel 4 in the UK on Sunday, October 12 at 9pm.
Added some new event and appearance photos into the gallery. A big thanks to Helen at Jryhysmeyers.com for the Homeland Season 4 Screening photos.
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It's finally here, the trailer for Desert Dancer. It's the Hong Kong trailer for the movie, it premieres in Hong Kong on the 28th of August. Not sure about other releases at this time. Seeing the US might get a release in March 2015. Will be sure to keep you all updated on that one. Here is a trailer for the movie.