Aselta optimises Mapper's maskless lithography
Aselta and Mapper Lithography have formed a partnership to provide an Aselta option for Mapper's FLX:1200 system, based on its Matrix platform.
The joint program has allowed Aselta and Mapper to develop an optimised data preparation flow for geometries from 90 nm down to 14 nm nodes.
The challenge of advanced multi-beam writers, especially at 20 nm and below, is to find the optimal trade-off between wafer pattern fidelity which drives yield and writing time which ultimately drives cost.
The solution for the Mapper's writer is based on Aselta technology, Inscale, which correction algorithms provide a unique combination, allowing customers to reduce cost while augmenting quality.
The software flow features a dedicated proximity effect correction, a simulation and analysis capability and a model-based verification engine fully interfaced with the oasis.mapper format.
A complete FLX:1200 emulator has been implemented in order to mimic the pixelated data handling through the full data path. Simulation inside Inscale is achievable pixel-wise with a bitmap repartition identical to the final multi-beam exposure.
On top, several software modules have been implemented like rasterisation and dose mitigation. A new SmartBoundary scheme is adapted to Mapper's data format to minimize alignment and stitching errors.
Mapper and Aselta will be presenting at the SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference 2014 a paper called "Demonstration of EDA flow for massively parallel e-beam lithography," showing the latest results combining usage of Inscale model-based dataprep on Mapper's multibeam system.
"Mapper and Aselta are joining forces for this new multi-beam direct write market. We have looked at Aselta technology, and believe the Inscale software solution does a good job performing the necessary dataprep task before feeding design data into our machine," says Marco Wieland, Mapper's CTO and co-founder.
"This partnership is a perfect example of how companies can build the multibeam direct write ecosystem," states Serdar Manakli, Chairman and CEO of Aselta. "Aselta has been working with Mapper to understand its equipment specifics and to tune Inscale to get the optimal combination of both worlds"
