Microlithography World articles from February 2007

Microlithography World archives from February 2007

Immersion lithography for 45nm manufacturing: fulfilling the manufacturing potential of immersion lithography requires tool designs that deal successfully with flare, lens heating, overlay, throughput and defectivity issues.
February 1, 2007... Immersion technology has been used for many years to improve resolution in microscopy. Applying it in mainstream semiconductor patterning, however, requires more in-depth characterization and development. Although immersion lithography provides...

Correcting ACLV by mask substrate tuning: arrays of scattering centers written inside the fused silica mask substrate by a femtosecond pulsed laser can alter the effective illumination locally, correcting for CD variations at the wafer to a fraction of a nanometer.
February 1, 2007... As chip dimensions shrink, critical dimension control becomes even more of a challenge for lithographers. Better CD control contributes to improved chip binning (higher speed, lower current leakage, etc.), higher mask or wafer yield, and higher...

Line-edge roughness, Part 1.(The Lithography Expert)
February 1, 2007... While resolution is commonly discussed relative to optical limits, and sometimes even resist contrast limitations, it is quite possible that the ultimate limit of resolution will come from line-edge roughness (LER). When variations in the width...

Mix-and-match e-beam/DUV lithography: combining the higher resolution and patterning flexibility of electron beam systems with high-throughput DUV scanners in a mix-and-match system speeds exploration of designs several generations ahead of leading edge production. Electron beam and DUV lithography tools can be compatible and complementary.
February 1, 2007... The history and potential of maskless e-beam lithography appeared in a previous article [1] which reviewed its early success in eliminating masks for personalization layers in ASIC products, resulting in significant reduction of cycle time and...

Excess coherence.(EDITORIAL)(Column)
February 1, 2007... In optics the term "coherence" has meanings beyond the internal consistency it stands for in daily life. It is possible in optics to be too coherent. One thing coherence describes in lithography is the extent to which the exposure dose due to...