eBeam Initiative At SPIE ALP 2026: Continuing Progress On Curvilinear, EUV, And Data Challenges


The eBeam Initiative’s annual lunch at SPIE Advanced Lithography and Patterning has long served as a focal point for eBeam technology education for the industry. This year marked our 17th gathering, with approximately 150 attendees joining us. As in past years, the value of the session was less about any single topic and more about the collective signal across different parts of the ecosystem... » read more

Expert Panel Sees History Of Continuous Photomask Innovations As Key To The Future


The eBeam Initiative conducted its 14th annual eBeam Initiative Luminaries survey in July and reported the results on September 23, 2025 to more than 200 attendees at its annual meeting during the BACUS SPIE Photomask Technology conference. Industry luminaries representing 51 companies from across the semiconductor ecosystem—including photomasks, electronic design automation (EDA), chip desig... » read more

Disruptive Changes Ahead For Photomasks?


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down with four experts to explore the current state and future direction of mask-making, with insights from Harry Levinson, principal lithographer at HJL Lithography; Aki Fujimura, CEO of D2S; Ezequiel Russell, senior director of mask technology at Micron; and Christopher Progler, executive vice president and CTO at Photronics. What follows ... » read more

Variable Bias Completes The PLDC Model And Offers Superior MPC Results


This is the third in a three-blog series on PLDC. The first installment was “Improving Uniformity and Linearity for All Masks,” from January 29, 2025. The second blog was “Three Ways Curvy ILT Together with PLDC Improves Wafer Uniformity,” from April 18, 2025. In 2024, the eBeam Initiative Luminaries Survey found that the number one concern in adoption of curvilinear mask features wa... » read more

Photomask Changes And Challenges At Mature And Advanced Nodes


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss the current state and future direction of mask-making, with Harry Levinson, principal lithographer at HJL Lithography; Aki Fujimura, CEO of D2S; Ezequiel Russell, senior director of mask technology at Micron; and Christopher Progler, executive vice president and CTO at Photronics. What follows are excerpts of that conversation.... » read more

Mask Complexity, Cost, And Change


Experts at the Table: As leading-edge lithography nodes push further into EUV and beyond, mask-making has become one of the most critical and costly aspects of semiconductor manufacturing. At the same time, non-EUV applications are stretching the lifetime of older tools and processes, challenging the industry to find new solutions for both ends of the spectrum. Semiconductor Engineering sat dow... » read more

Three Ways Curvy ILT Together With PLDC Improves Wafer Uniformity


This is the second blog in a three-part series on pixel-level dose correction (PLDC). The first installment was “Improving Uniformity and Linearity for All Masks” from January 29, 2025. PLDC: A new solution for improving mask and wafer uniformity Improving mask uniformity is the easiest, cheapest way to improve wafer uniformity. Uniformity is a measure of how similarly the exact same feat... » read more

Luminary Panel Sees Multi-Beam Mask Writers And Curvilinear Masks Key To 193i And EUV


Attendance was up and the mood was optimistic at this year’s SPIE Photomask and EUV conference held September 29 through October 3, 2024. The optimism was apparent as well for multi-beam mask writers and curvilinear masks during the eBeam Initiative’s 15th annual reception and meeting held on October 1. In the eBeam Initiative’s annual Luminaries survey, 93% of those surveyed said that pu... » read more

Bringing Curvilinear Data To Mask Data Prep


Advanced nodes that have been leveraging curvilinear correction with technologies such as ILT and curvilinear OPC are increasingly requiring the use of curvilinear masks to meet advanced feature size and pitch requirements. However, building curvilinear masks with standard OASIS file formats can come at the cost of large file sizes, increased turnaround time, and reduced quality of results. The... » read more

Make The Impossible Possible: Use Variable-Shaped Beam Mask Writers And Curvilinear Full-Chip Inverse Lithography Technology For 193i Contacts/Vias With Mask-Wafer Co-Optimization


Abstract: "Full-chip curvilinear inverse lithography technology (ILT) requires mask writers to write full reticle curvilinear mask patterns in a reasonable write time. We jointly study and present the benefits of a full-chip, curvilinear, stitchless ILT with mask-wafer co-optimization (MWCO) for variable-shaped beam (VSB) mask writers and validate its benefits on mask and wafer at Micron Tec... » read more

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