tag: lithography

EUV Suffers New Setback
By Mark LaPedus - 24 Feb, 2014 - Comments: 8

ASML Holding’s initial, production-worthy extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tool has suffered a setback during a recent trial run at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC). TSMC disclosed the problem during a public presentation at the 2014 Advanced Lithography conference in San Jose, Calif. During the trial run at TSMC, the EUV source crashed due to a misalignment of the l... » read more

Interconnect Challenges Grow
By Mark LaPedus - 20 Feb, 2014 - Comments: 0

Qualcomm outlined the technology challenges facing mobile chip suppliers at a recent event. In no particular order, the challenges include the usual suspects—area scaling, power reduction, performance and cost. Another concern for Qualcomm is an often-overlooked part of the equation—the backend-of-the-line (BEOL). In chip production, the BEOL is where the interconnects are formed within ... » read more

Lithography-Enabled Scaling Challenges
By Ehud Tzuri - 20 Feb, 2014 - Comments: 0

The semiconductor industry is being challenged as never before when it comes to lithography-enabled scaling. While development of new patterning techniques and resists as well as inspection and metrology capabilities have helped device scaling advance, major issues continue to challenge the future of Moore’s Law. There’s an industry shift from lithography-enabled 2D devices to materials-ena... » read more

Waiting For Next-Generation Lithography
By Mark LaPedus - 23 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 2

Nearly 30 years ago, optical lithography was supposed to hit the wall at the magical 1 micron barrier, prompting the need for a new patterning technology such as direct-write electron beam and X-ray lithography. At that time, however, the industry was able to push optical lithography for volume chip production at the 1-micron node and beyond. This, in turn, effectively killed direct-write e-... » read more

DSA, Multi-beam Make Steady Progress
By Mark LaPedus - 12 Dec, 2013 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss current and future lithography challenges with Laurent Pain, lithography lab manager at CEA-Leti. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: CEA-Leti has two major programs in lithography. One is in directed self-assembly (DSA) and the other is in multi-beam e-beam. Let’s start with multi-beam. What is Leti doing in multi-beam and what... » read more

What’s After 10nm?
By Mark LaPedus - 14 Nov, 2013 - Comments: 0

For some time, chipmakers have roughly doubled the transistor count at each node, while simultaneously cutting the cost by around 29%. IC scaling, in turn, enables faster and lower cost chips, which ultimately translates into cheaper electronic products with more functions. Consumers have grown accustomed to the benefits of Moore’s Law, but the question is for how much longer? Chips based ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 22
By Mark LaPedus - 22 Oct, 2013 - Comments: 0

Natural lithography For years, researchers have been exploring the development of nanosphere lithography or natural lithography. Nanosphere lithography makes use of directed self-assembly (DSA) techniques. The process begins with self-assembly of a nanosphere mask onto a substrate. This is followed by deposition of a material through the mask. The University of Paderborn has put a new twis... » read more

Reducing The Tapeout Crunch With Signoff Confidence
By Jean-Marie Brunet - 17 Oct, 2013 - Comments: 1

Crunch time—that last six to eight weeks before tapeout. There’s always too much to do, and too little time. No one wants problems at this stage, because problems mean changes, and changes mean delays. At leading-edge nodes, however, we’re running into some new problems that need new solutions. We all know design rule numbers and complexity are going through the roof as we try to use 1... » read more

Multi-Beam Begins To Shine
By Mark LaPedus - 17 Oct, 2013 - Comments: 0

After years of R&D and promises, multi-beam electron-beam technology is delayed and late to the market. The technology requires more funding and work than previously thought. And generally, the skepticism is running high for the technology. Finally, however, there is a ray of hope, and some momentum, in multi-beam—at least on the photomask front. Seeking to accelerate its multi-beam te... » read more

Debate Heats Up Over Bigger Glass
By Mark LaPedus - 17 Oct, 2013 - Comments: 0

For more than two decades, photomask makers have been talking about moving to a new and larger mask size, sometimes called “bigger glass” by the industry. Generally, the discussions about “bigger glass” have been all talk and no action. But now, some chipmakers are turning up the volume in the discussions and are pushing for a larger mask size. A larger mask size would require the ph... » read more

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