Consideration Of Missing Defect Suppression Technique In EUV Hole Patterning


This study focused on the defect behavior analysis with CD variation on EUV via hole pattern using photolithographic process and etch transfer performance. While defect requirements are not as stringent for memory devices, logic devices must be defect-free. Currently, a defect which comes from the process or material can only be detected by top-down inspection approach, however, it is difficult... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers TSMC posted mixed results for the quarter, although there was a capital spending surprise. “It maintained its 2020 capex at $15B-$16B despite smartphone softness, primarily to support a strong 5nm ramp, led by demand from 5G and HPC customers,” said Weston Twigg, an analyst at KeyBanc, in a research note. “Despite lowering its industry outlook, TSMC still expects to grow its o... » read more

Making Chips At 3nm And Beyond


Select foundries are beginning to ramp up their new 5nm processes with 3nm in R&D. The big question is what comes after that. Work is well underway for the 2nm node and beyond, but there are numerous challenges as well as some uncertainty on the horizon. There already are signs that the foundries have pushed out their 3nm production schedules by a few months due to various technical issu... » read more

The Impact Of EUV Resist Thickness On Via Patterning Uniformity


Via patterning at advanced nodes requires extremely low critical dimension (CD) values, typically below 30nm. Controlling these dimensions is a serious challenge, since there are many inherent sources of variation during lithography and etch processing. Coventor personnel, in conjunction with our colleagues from ASML and imec, recently looked at the impact of Extreme Ultraviolet lithography (EU... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers TrendForce has released its projected foundry rankings in terms of sales for the first quarter. TSMC is still in first place, followed by Samsung, GlobalFoundries and UMC. Samsung has been ramping up chips based on its 7nm logic process using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. Now, Samsung is ramping up its DRAM devices using EUV and plans to expand its capacity in the arena.... » read more

Improving EUV Process Efficiency


The semiconductor industry is rethinking the manufacturing flow for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography in an effort to improve the overall process and reduce waste in the fab. Vendors currently are developing new and potentially breakthrough fab materials and equipment. Those technologies are still in R&D and have yet to be proven. But if they work as planned, they could boost the flo... » read more

Defect Evolution In Next Generation, Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography


Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is a promising next generation lithography technology that may succeed optical lithography at future technology nodes. EUV mask infrastructure and manufacturing of defect-free EUV mask blanks is a key near term challenge in the use of EUV lithography. Virtual fabrication is a computerized technique to perform predictive, three dimensional modeling of sem... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: March 3


Security lithography At the recent SPIE Advanced Lithography conference, Multibeam disclosed more details about its efforts to develop multi-beam direct-write lithography for chip security applications. David Lam, chief executive and chairman of Multibeam, described how multi-beam lithography can be used to help thwart IC counterfeiting and tampering in the market. This lithography technolo... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


SPIE At the SPIE Advanced Lithography conference, Lam Research has introduced a new dry resist technology for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. Dry resist technology is a new approach to deposit and develop EUV resists. It is a dry deposition technique with alternate compositions and mechanisms. By combining Lam’s deposition and etch process expertise with partnerships with ASML a... » read more

2020 IC Outlook: Uncertainty


After a downturn in 2019, the semiconductor and equipment industries looked promising at the start of 2020. In 2019, the downturn was primarily due to the memory markets, namely DRAM and NAND. Both DRAM and NAND saw lackluster demand and falling prices last year. At the start of 2020, though, the memory markets were beginning to recover. Unlike memory, the logic and foundry markets were s... » read more

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