Maximum exposure latitude (EL), mask error enhancement factor (MEEF), and intrafield critical dimension (CD) uniformity are compared in TE and unpolarized (UNP) light. An ArF dry scanner with 0.85 numerical aperture and dipole illumination with inner and outer sigmas of 0.93 and 0.69 is used. 63 and 73 nm nodes are chosen which have 126 and 146 nm pitch sizes and Target CDs of 63 and 73 nm. TE shows 56% and 10% larger maximum EL than UNP for 63 and 73 nm nodes, respectively. TE shows 56% increased IFU compared with UNP at the 63 nm node. MEEFs are 3.4 and 4.1 for TE and UNP light at the 63 nm node, respectively. MEEFs of 1.4 and 1.5 are observed for TE and UNP light at the 73 nrn node. Mask mean-to-target (MTT) and uniformity specifications are compared according to polarization status. For the 63 nm node, specifications of mask MTTs are 1.28 and 1.28 nrn and the mask uniformities are 1.43 and 1.18 nm for TE and UNP light, respectively. For the 73 nm node, 2.62 and 2.43 nm of the mask MTT specifications are obtained with mask uniformities of 4.04 and 3.77 nm at TE and UNP light. TE light shows 28% and 11% larger MTT and uniformity specification areas than UNP light for 63 and 73 nm nodes. (c) 2005 American Vacuum Society.