Applied Materials introduces new system for 32nm mask cleaning

Applied Materials released its Tetra Reticle Clean (TRC), a wet clean system that delivers damage free, >99% particle removal efficiency for 32nm and beyond photomasks. Enabling customers to exceed 32nm specifications for critical mask cleaning applications, the compact TRC system also sets a new standard for productivity, offering up to four times the throughput of any competing system.

"Conventional photomask cleaning systems have not been able to meet the challenge of cleaning leading edge masks effectively without damaging them," said Ajay Kumar, general manager of Applied Materials' Mask Etch and Cleans product division. "We've overcome this technology barrier with the TRC system, enabling mask makers to achieve the rapid cleaning performance they need while maintaining the mask feature integrity and phase control that their customers demand."

The TRC system's remarkable performance, which has already been validated in a 45nm production environment, is the result of several innovations in cleaning technology. The system features a unique, flexible design and sulphur free, advanced ammonia based cleaning agents that combine to maximise photoresist and particle removal without damaging the mask. Proprietary Uniform Cavitation Megasonics (UCM) technology distributes energy evenly over the entire mask surface, avoiding the damage causing spikes generated by traditional point source megasonic cleans. The TRC system also introduces NanoDroplet technology which utilises a unique nozzle design to create small, uniform, high momentum droplets that evenly distribute energy and help deliver 32nm and beyond cleaning performance.

The benchmark high throughput of the TRC system is enabled by its ability to treat both sides of the mask simultaneously, cutting process time in half compared to other cleaning systems. This feature enables extendibility to future mask generations by allowing different chemistries to be used on each side without mixing. The system can be configured with multiple processing modules, offering mask makers the capacity to eliminate processing bottlenecks and reduce cycle times.

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