Another back-to-the-future possibility for next-generation lithography (NGL) is direct write e-beam (DWEB), revitalized with multibeam clusters, curvilinear mask writing, and character projection (CP). The E-beam Initiative used the recent SPIE gathering to announce that it had added six new member companies, including GlobalFoundries and Samsung. Aki Fujimura, CEO of D2S and Managing Director of the […]
This year’s plenary sessions of the SPIE Advanced Lithography Symposium exposed the complexities of patterning ICs in high-volume manufacturing (HVM) at the 22nm node and beyond. Steppers using 193nm ArF immersion (193i) will be extended using double-patterning (DP) schemes, since the extreme-ultra-violet litho (EUVL) infrastructure is again delayed. R&D to support DP integration has led […]
The SPIE’s 7th Frits Zernike Award for Advances in Optical Microlithography goes to M. David Levenson, BetaSights Litho & DFM Editor, in recognition of one of the most important developments in lithography resolution enhancement of the last twenty years, the phase shifting mask (PSM). About 30 years ago at the IBM San Jose Lab, Levenson […]
The IEEE’s International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) is still the place to see the latest micro- and nano-electronics research targeting commercial markets. On December 8, 2009, French researchers from Leti/Minatec showed “3D sequential CMOS integration” as <600°C processing of PFETs using a (110) orientation FDSOI layer that was transferred on top of NFETs made using […]
Based on proven hardware sub-systems from previous models, Applied Materials has released a new chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) tool that processes two 300mm diameter wafers simultaneously on each of two plattens. Initially targeting copper interconnect formation for memory ICs, the Reflexion GT tool has passed betasite tests at multiple customers, and reportedly provides 60% higher throughput […]
If EUV lithography is to succeed, infrastructure gaps will need to be addressed forthwith. The lack of inspection tools for EUV masks and substrates constitutes one such gap, now recognized as a priority by SEMATECH. At the OSA/APS Frontiers in Optics (FiO) meeting held in San Jose, October 11-15, Carmen Menoni of Colorado State University […]
Founded in 1984 with Flemish government support, IMEC has reached 25 years. To celebrate the organization’s accomplishments, BetaSights joined other industry media outlets attending a research review event in beautiful Leuven, Belgium. From 1999 to 2009 has been the “phase of international breakthrough” as described by current president Luc Van den hove. Working with OEMs […]
KLA-Tencor recently announced its long awaited 193nm reticle defect inspection tool, the Teron 600. Wafer scanners adopted 193nm exposure wavelength years ago in order to shrink circuit features below the resolution limit set by the previous (248nm) wavelength, roughly 130nm. The photomasks used in those tools, however, continued to be inspected at 257nm, in spite […]
At SEMICON West this year, ASML announced tools that fleshed out their Holistic Lithography scheme introduced at SPIE’s Advanced Lithography Symposium in February of this year. The key idea of Holistic Lithography, according to Bert Koek, senior vice president of the applications products group at ASML, is integrating computational lithography, wafer printing, and process control […]
IMEC/F-IZM/SUSS/TM vs. SEMATECH/Leti/EVG/Brewer. The leading R&D consortia have aligned (pun intended) with leading equipment and materials suppliers to create ultra-thin silicon wafer handling technologies for 3D ICs. With the ability to shrink circuit dimensions in 2D becoming ever more difficult, most of the world’s IC fab leaders are evaluating the use of the 3rd dimension. […]