3D Effects At 20nm And Beyond


At the 20nm process node and below, attenuated phase shift masks (PSM) are used in the photolithography process, which results in approximately 70nm of topography. This now must be accounted for using 3D mask approximation. Aki Fujimura, CEO of [getentity id="22864" comment="D2S"], explained that in terms of [getkc id="80" comment="lithography"], where simulation-based technologies are used,... » read more

Challenges Mount For Patterning And Masks


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss lithography and photomask trends with Uday Mitra, vice president and chief technology officer for the Etch Business Unit at [getentity id="22817" e_name="Applied Materials"]; Pawitter Mangat, senior manager and deputy director for EUV lithography at [getentity id="22819" comment="GlobalFoundries"]; Aki Fujimura, chief executive at [getentity id="228... » read more

5 Issues Under The SPIE Radar


As usual, the recent SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference was a busy, if not an overwhelming, event. At the event, there were endless presentations on the usual subjects, such as design, patterning, metrology and photoresists. And as in past years, one left the event with more questions than answers. At this year’s event, the most obvious question was (and still is) clear: Will extreme ult... » read more

How To Deal With Electromigration


The replacement of aluminum with copper interconnect wiring, first demonstrated by IBM in 1997, brought the integrated circuit industry substantial improvements in both resistance to electromigration and line conductivity. Copper is both a better and more stable conductor than aluminum. Difficult though the transition was, it helped extend device scaling for another eighteen years (and counting... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


At the SPIE Advanced Lithography conference in San Jose, Calif., there were several takeaways. First, the battle for lithography share is heating up at Intel. “We believe Nikon still holds a decent position at Intel, but with ASML gaining some share at 10nm. Nikon could regain some share with its new platform at 7nm, in our view, but it is early to tell. We believe Nikon has improved its posi... » read more

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!


ASML announced that they are going into the pellicle business at 2:15pm on February 25 at the SPIE Advanced Lithography Symposium in San Jose. These are not your garden variety plastic membrane pellicles, mind you, but rather EUV pellicles made out of 50nm thick polysilicon film and stretched on frames that can be attached, removed and reattached on EUV masks. Dr. Carmen Zoldesi of ASML reveal... » read more

Tighter CD Requires Tighter Laser Bandwidth


Concerns that the bandwidth of the light source for optical lithography can affect pattern quality are not new. No lens material is completely free from chromatic aberration: the refractive index varies with wavelength, and so different wavelengths will focus at different points. Chromatic aberration became a much less serious concern with the replacement of broadband mercury lamps with lase... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Feb. 24


EUV progress report At the SPIE Advanced Lithography conference in San Jose, Calif., ASML Holding said that one customer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), has exposed more than 1,000 wafers on an NXE:3300B EUV system in a single day. This is one step towards the insertion of EUV lithography in volume production. During a recent test run on the system, TSMC exposed 1,022 w... » read more

Executive Insight: Elmar Platzgummer


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss photomask and lithography trends with Elmar Platzgummer, chief executive of IMS Nanofabrication, an Austrian-based supplier of multi-beam e-beam tools for mask writing applications. SE: IMS has shipped the world’s first multi-beam e-beam system. Initially targeted for photomask writing, the tools are currently being tested in the field. How lon... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Intel announced two new technologies for foundry customers. One technology, dubbed Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB), is available to 14nm foundry customers. Instead of an expensive silicon interposer with TSVs, a small silicon bridge chip is embedded in the package, enabling high density die-to-die connections only where needed. EMIB eliminates the need for TSVs and specialized int... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →