Microlithography World articles from November 2003

Microlithography World archives from November 2003

S-FIL for sub-80nm contact hole patterning.(Cover Story)
November 1, 2003... Reliable printing of sub-80nm contact holes is a challenge that manufacturers of state-of-the-art DRAM and MPU devices must overcome within the next few years. Step-and-flash imprint lithography (S-FIL) has already demonstrated the ability to...

Who can afford advanced lithography?
November 1, 2003... Semiconductor lithography has become dramatically more expensive over the last 20 years, with costs recently accelerating. If the maximum affordable patterning cost is approximately that of 90nm node chips on 200mm wafers, advanced lithography...

Scattering bars.(The Lithography Expert)
November 1, 2003... Resolution enhancement technologies (RET) refer to techniques that extend the usable resolution of an imaging system without decreasing the wavelength of light or increasing the numerical aperture of the imaging tool. The three most popular...

Alternating-PSM repair by nanomachining.
November 1, 2003... Nanomachining is a new technique for repairing photomask defects by mechanically removing them with a physical cutting process on an AFM. This technique can be applied to any type of "extra material" defect in any film material, including...

Sony and Samsung evaluate Leepl tool for volume production.(News & Products)
November 1, 2003... Both Sony and Samsung are evaluating Leepl Corp.'s low cost 1:1 e-beam lithography tool for critical contact layers for mix-and-match high-volume production at the 65nm node, to fill the gap between 193nm optical lithography and whatever comes...

Cymer appoints Yen senior VP, Hudyma joins board.(News & Products)
November 1, 2003... Cymer Inc., San Diego, CA, has appointed industry veteran Anthony (Tony) Yen as senior VP of lithography market development. Yen previously served as codirector of the Lithography Division at International SEMATEC, (ISMT), where he was...

Nanonex installs thermal imprintor at U. of Michigan.(News & Products)
November 1, 2003... Nanonex Corp., Princeton, NJ, has delivered its Nanonex 1000 upgradeable thermal imprintor to the U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor campus, at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The Nanonex 1000 performs all aspects of...

Intelligent Micro provides rapid prototyping.(News & Products)
November 1, 2003... Intelligent Micro Patterning System Solutions LLC, St. Petersburg, FL, now offers rapid prototyping of micro devices using polydimethylsilane (PDMS) for micromolding. PDMS has been used to fabricate biological micro devices for medical...

PROLITH 8.0 lithography simulation software.(News & Products)
November 1, 2003... PROLITH 8.0 optical lithography simulation software offers the Qckvu option on both Windows and Unix platforms, allowing the user to quickly view a full-chip GDSII or MEBES design file, zoom into the area of interest, and create a mask file...

Wet-cleaning platform.(News & Products)
November 1, 2003... Akrion's GAMAplus wet station is a small-footprint tool that reduces chemical use while running a range of cleaning processes. GAMAplus is 40% smaller than a conventional wet station, with in situ processing that provides fresh chemicals to...

Ellipsometry system.(News & Products)
November 1, 2003... The ultra-II Focused-Beam ellipsometry system's enhanced DUV reflectometer with photomultiplier detector enables more accurate and reproducible results at the 90 and 65nm processing nodes. A new optional wafer-bow/film-stress module enables...

Shows & conferences.(Calendar)
November 1, 2003... IEDM 2003 December 7-10 Washington, DC IEEE's 2003 International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) will feature presentations on mobile communications developments, implantable electronics, power problems, and more topics. Two short...

Clarifications.(Correction Notice)
November 1, 2003... In the August issue of Microlithography World, the formula in the Chris Mack article, "Off-axis illumination" (p. 16), should have read: [square root of 2] [lambda]/(2pNA) Also, in the Editorial, "Immersion and polarization" (p. 20),...

The 157nm bet.(Editorial)
November 1, 2003... Before about 1999, the materials problems introduced by exposure wavelengths shorter than 193nm were considered so bad that the industry expected to jump from 193nm lithography to a nonoptical scheme, perhaps EUV. But there was one last good...