Curvilinear Masks Push The Limits Of Inspection And Metrology


Key Takeaways: Curvilinear masks require native data flows across design, mask data prep, writing, inspection, and metrology. Inspection is shifting from finding all defects to identifying which mask variations actually print on wafer. High-NA EUV will intensify inspection challenges, particularly for small printable defects and actinic contrast limits. Experts at the table... » read more

Mask Technology Faces A New Set Of Challenges


Key Takeaways: Mask inspection and repair remain the critical bottleneck, even as multi-beam writers have reduced mask-writing constraints. Curvilinear masks are becoming viable for critical layers, but qualification, metrology, and inspection standards still lag production needs. Scaling curvilinear requires curvilinear-native data flows, model-based checks, GPU/HPC compute, and les... » read more

Beyond Optical: A New E-Beam Inspection For Advanced Chips


The semiconductor industry is defined by its relentless pursuit of smaller, faster, and more powerful chips. As we push into advanced 3D architectures like gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, a critical challenge emerges: finding the defects that kill yield. Many of these flaws are deeply buried within complex structures and impossible to see with traditional optical inspection. This creates ... » read more

Full Wafer Inspection for Voltage Contrast Systematic Defects Using High-Throughput Point Scan


Abstract: A next generation system and methodology for high-throughput e-beam hot spot inspection is described. Rather than capturing images of each hot spot, just a single pixel centered on the signal node of each hot spot is collected and used to assess if the hot spot is defective or not. This innovation results in a very substantial savings in time per hot spot, and therefore a tremendous ... » read more

E-Beam Inspection Proves Essential For Advanced Nodes


Electron-beam inspection is proving to be indispensable for finding critical defects at sub-5nm dimensions. The challenge now is how to speed up the process to make it economically palatable to fabs. E-beam inspection's notorious sensitivity-throughput tradeoff has made comprehensive defect coverage with e-beam at these advanced nodes especially problematic. For Intel’s 18A logic node (~1.... » read more

Progress In Wafer And Package Level Defect Inspection


The technology to enable sampling and the need for more metrology and inspection data in a production setting have aligned just in time to address the semiconductor industry’s newest and most complex manufacturing processes. In both wafer and assembly manufacturing, engineering teams have long relied on imaging tools to measure critical features and to inspect for defects after specific pr... » read more

Research Bits: Mar. 5


Anti-ambipolar transistor Materials scientists from the City University of Hong Kong propose using transistors made of mixed-dimensional nanowires and nanoflakes to create multivalued logic devices. By combining GaAsSb nanowires and MoS2 nanoflakes, the team created a hetero-transistor with anti-ambipolar transfer characteristics, in which positive (holes) and negative (electron) charge car... » read more

Modulated Electron Microscopy Applied In The Process Monitoring Of Memory Cell And The Defect Inspection Of Floating Circuits


A technical paper titled “In situ electrical property quantification of memory devices by modulated electron microscopy” was published by researchers at Hitachi High-Tech Corporation, KIOXIA Corporation, and Western Digital. Abstract: "E-beam inspection based on voltage-contrast (VC) defect metrology has been widely utilized for failure mode analysis of memory devices. Variation in e-beam... » read more

Metrology Options Increase As Device Needs Shift


Semiconductor fabs are taking an ‘all hands on deck’ approach to solving tough metrology and yield management challenges, combining tools, processes, and other technologies as the chip industry transitions to nanosheet transistors on the front end and heterogenous integration on the back end. Optical and e-beam tools are being extended, while X-ray inspection is being added on a case-by-... » read more

High-NA EUV Complicates EUV Photomask Future


The eBeam Initiative’s 11th annual Luminaries survey in 2022 reported EUV fueling growth of the semiconductor photomask industry while a panel of experts cited a number of complications in moving to High-NA EUV during an event co-located with the SPIE Photomask Technology Conference in late September. Industry luminaries representing 44 companies from across the semiconductor ecosystem partic... » read more

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