Inside Lithography And Masks

By Mark LaPedus - 01 May, 2017 - Comments: 1

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss lithography and photomask technologies with Gregory McIntyre, director of the Advanced Patterning Department at [getentity id="22217" comment="IMEC"]; Harry Levinson, senior fellow and senior director of technology research at [getentity id="22819" comment="GlobalFoundries"]; David Fried, chief technology officer at [getentity id="22210" e_name="Cov... » read more

Understanding How Small Variations In Photoresist Shape Significantly Impact Multi-Patterning Yield

By Coventor - 20 Apr, 2017 - Comments: 0

Multi-patterning schemes such as Self-Aligned Double Patterning (SADP) and Self-Aligned Quadruple Patterning (SAQP) have been used to successfully increase semiconductor device density, circumventing prior physical limits in pattern density. However, the number of processing steps needed in these patterning schemes can make it difficult to directly translate a lithographic mask pattern to a fin... » read more

Patterning Problems Pile Up

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Mar, 2017 - Comments: 4

Chipmakers are ramping up 16nm/14nm finFET processes, with 10nm and 7nm now moving into early production. But at 10nm and beyond, chipmakers are running into a new set of problems. While shrinking feature sizes of a device down to 10nm, 7nm, 5nm and perhaps beyond is possible using current and future fab equipment, there doesn't seem to be a simple way to solve the edge placement error (EPE)... » read more

Changing Direction In Chip Design

By Ed Sperling - 26 Jan, 2017 - Comments: 1

Andrzej Strojwas, chief technologist at PDF Solutions and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University—and the winner of this year's Phil Kaufman Award for distinguished contributions to EDA—sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about device scaling, why the semiconductor industry will begin to fragment around new architectures and packaging, and ... » read more

BEOL Barricades Ahead

By David Fried - 15 Dec, 2016 - Comments: 0

Coventor recently assembled an expert panel at IEDM 2016, to discuss changes to BEOL process technology that would be needed to continue dimensional scaling to 7 nm and lower. Among the questions posed to panelists: What is BEOL? Where does it begin and end? Are there fundamental limits to interconnect processes? How much longer can we continue to use current interconnect processes and ... » read more

Sub-Lithographic Patterning Via Tilted Ion Implantation For Scaling Beyond The 7nm Technology Node

By Technical Paper Link - 10 Nov, 2016 - Comments: 0

Tilted ion implantation (TII) can be used in conjunction with pre-existing masking features on the surface of a substrate to form features with smaller dimensions and smaller pitch. In this paper, the resolution limit of this sub-lithographic patterning approach is examined via experiments as well as Monte Carlo process simulations. TII is shown to be capable of defining features with size belo... » read more

Deeper Inside Intel

By Mark LaPedus - 22 Aug, 2016 - Comments: 5

Mark Bohr, senior fellow and director of process architecture and integration at Intel, and Zane Ball, vice president in the Technology and Manufacturing Group at Intel and co-general manager of Intel Custom Foundry, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to discuss the future directions of transistors, process technology, the foundry business and packaging. What follows are excerpts of those ... » read more

Interconnect Challenges Rising

By Mark LaPedus - 27 Jun, 2016 - Comments: 1

Chipmakers are ramping up their 14nm finFET processes, with 10nm and 7nm slated to ship possibly later this year or next. At 10nm and beyond, IC vendors are determined to scale the two main parts of the [getkc id="185" kc_name="finFET"] structure—the transistor and interconnects. Generally, transistor scaling will remain challenging at advanced nodes. And on top of that, the interconnects ... » read more

One-On-One: Dave Hemker

By Ed Sperling - 19 May, 2016 - Comments: 0

Dave Hemker, CTO at [getentity id="22820" comment="Lam Research"], sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to look at some of the key issues on the process and manufacturing side, and some of the key developments that will reshape the semiconductor industry in the future. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. SE: One of the big discussion topics these days is [getkc id="208" commen... » read more

3D Construction Ahead

By Michael Watts - 17 Mar, 2016 - Comments: 0

One of the interesting features of Photonics West is that it covers the full spectrum, from academic research to industrial research to new products in the commercial exhibits. This range of interrelated ideas was on show in 3D fabrication. At one extreme, the latest research in scanning multi-spot three-photon patterning showed 3D structures 100μm thick with 50nm features. Researchers als... » read more

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tag: patterning