News Article
KLA-Tencor Introduces enabling technology For 65-nm and Below
KLA-Tencor unveiled its next-generation photomask inspection system, STARlight-2, providing wafer fabs with a cost-effective contamination inspection solution for all types of photomasks, including mainstream extreme resolution enhancement technique (XRET) photomasks, at the 65-nm node and below.
KLA-Tencor unveiled its next-generation photomask inspection system, STARlight-2, providing wafer fabs with a cost-effective contamination inspection solution for all types of photomasks, including mainstream extreme resolution enhancement technique (XRET) photomasks, at the 65-nm node and below. It does so by leveraging revolutionary image processing technology compared to the previous-generation and industry-standard STARlight,
"Our wafer fab customers' investment in infrastructure and time is exponentially higher with the increased adoption of immersion lithography and XRETs," said Harold Lehon, vice president and general manager of KLA-Tencor's Reticle and Photomask Inspection Division (RAPID).
Process challenges today include more than just zero-yield occurrences. Chipmakers are challenged by more gradual yield roll-off that deprives them of the highest performance and profit parts. Crystal growth, haze and other progressive defects that cause this problem are escalating, and no solution exists to address them completely. These contaminants form on photomasks from a variety of sources within the mask shop and wafer fab environments. Over time, they grow and multiply as the photomask undergoes constant lithographic exposure, reducing the lithography process window more and more. This phenomenon increases the risk of devices not meeting performance specifications and having serious reliability problems. The combination of 193-nm lithography and 300-mm wafer processing further exacerbates progressive defects since the photomasks endure longer periods of exposure at higher energy--creating an ideal incubator for these contaminants. In addition to finding these elusive defects before they collapse the lithography process window entirely, the revolutionary design of STARlight-2 provides the capabilities needed to meet all of the challenges associated with 65-nm designs, including new XRET strategies and the increase in feature packing density.
"Our wafer fab customers' investment in infrastructure and time is exponentially higher with the increased adoption of immersion lithography and XRETs," said Harold Lehon, vice president and general manager of KLA-Tencor's Reticle and Photomask Inspection Division (RAPID).
Process challenges today include more than just zero-yield occurrences. Chipmakers are challenged by more gradual yield roll-off that deprives them of the highest performance and profit parts. Crystal growth, haze and other progressive defects that cause this problem are escalating, and no solution exists to address them completely. These contaminants form on photomasks from a variety of sources within the mask shop and wafer fab environments. Over time, they grow and multiply as the photomask undergoes constant lithographic exposure, reducing the lithography process window more and more. This phenomenon increases the risk of devices not meeting performance specifications and having serious reliability problems. The combination of 193-nm lithography and 300-mm wafer processing further exacerbates progressive defects since the photomasks endure longer periods of exposure at higher energy--creating an ideal incubator for these contaminants. In addition to finding these elusive defects before they collapse the lithography process window entirely, the revolutionary design of STARlight-2 provides the capabilities needed to meet all of the challenges associated with 65-nm designs, including new XRET strategies and the increase in feature packing density.
