Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: "SEMATECH to Showcase Advances in EUV Extendibility and Metrology Techniques for Defect Inspection at SPIE 2014: Papers demonstrate leadership in the development of EUV lithography infrastructure and mask and resist technology"

Home > Press > SEMATECH to Showcase Advances in EUV Extendibility and Metrology Techniques for Defect Inspection at SPIE 2014: Papers demonstrate leadership in the development of EUV lithography infrastructure and mask and resist technology

Abstract:
SEMATECH experts will present world-leading research and development results on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) manufacturability and extendibility, and related areas of metrology at the SPIE Advanced Lithography 2014 conferences taking place February 23-27 in San Jose, CA.

SEMATECH to Showcase Advances in EUV Extendibility and Metrology Techniques for Defect Inspection at SPIE 2014: Papers demonstrate leadership in the development of EUV lithography infrastructure and mask and resist technology

Albany, NY | Posted on February 20th, 2014

Among the global semiconductor community's leading gatherings, the SPIE conference series attracts thousands of specialists in various aspects of lithography and related metrology, two of the most challenging areas of advanced microchip production.

"Although serious challenges remain to further enable EUV pilot line readiness and advance EUV extendibility, steady progress has been realized and we are looking forward to sharing our results on some of the most critical aspects of the development of EUV infrastructure," said Michael Lercel, director of Lithography, Metrology, and Nanodefectivity at SEMATECH. "SEMATECH lithographers will recount achievements in multiple areas of EUV infrastructure, including resist and mask blank development, and the results presented will be instrumental in driving timely creation of the remaining infrastructure required to bring EUV to production."

Next to meeting EUV productivity targets, defect-free EUV mask blanks are the most important element needed to enable EUV HVM introduction. SEMATECH's mask blank technologists will share the progress made at SEMATECH's Mask Blank Development Center in eliminating so-called "killer-type" mask blanks defects. Achieving this goal is critical to enable early adopters of EUV lithography.

The development of resist materials depends on the availability of high resolution micro-exposure tools. SEMATECH researchers will report on current performance and progress in upgrading these tools with the higher numerical aperture lenses needed to meet requirements for sub 10 nm resist materials development. In addition, recent results from SEMATECH's new imaging materials platform research will be reported.

In an invited paper addressing key infrastructure gaps for EUV in the area of mask metrology, Carl Zeiss and SEMATECH will share the results from the integration of the industry's first-ever commercial actinic aerial image metrology (AIMS™) EUV system.

"In partnership with Carl Zeiss, SEMATECH's EUV Mask Infrastructure initiative has made impressive advances through collaborative research with chip manufacturers. The AIMS™ tool is already producing mask-scale aerial images for 16 nm half-pitch node," said Michael Goldstein, EMI program manager and senior principal physicist at SEMATECH. "These results demonstrate that significant progress is being made in the development of critical metrology tools required to fabricate defect-free masks."

Other SEMATECH papers will showcase advances in metrology techniques and applications, including critical dimension atomic force microscopy (CD-AFM), critical dimension X-ray scattering (CD-SAXS), 3D characterization of directed self-assembly (DSA) by scatterometry, and a through-focus scanning optical microscopy (TSOM) technique being explored for future defect inspection and high-volume manufacturing of high-aspect ratio features. Critical dimension scanning electron microscopy (CD-SEM) limits and extendibility will also be analyzed, as well as improvements to CD-SEM roughness measurement strategy.

For a complete list of these and other presentations at SPIE please visit bit.ly/1eKaYgO.

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About SEMATECH
For over 25 years, SEMATECH®, the international consortium of leading semiconductor device, equipment, and materials manufacturers, has set global direction, enabled flexible collaboration, and bridged strategic R&D to manufacturing. Through our unwavering commitment to foster collaboration across the nanoelectronics industry, we help our members and partners address critical industry transitions, drive technical consensus, pull research into the industry mainstream, improve manufacturing productivity, and reduce risk and time to market.

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Contacts:
Erica McGill
SEMATECH
Marketing Communications
O: 518-649-1041

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