2002 update on the SEMI Standards Mask Qualification Terminology Task Force

摘要

An overview is given of the achievements on this initiative over the past year. The achieved 1-dimensional (1D) terminology is now published and can be downloaded from the SEMI Standards website. The present focus is on 2-dimensional (2D) terminology. For this purpose a general approach based on area is suggested. Based on this, specific cases such as corner rounding and line-end shortening have been covered. Likewise OPC and contacts become easily assessed. The suggested approach requires overlay of the actual and the nominal pattern. Techniques to do this are discussed. Other qualification techniques, already in use today, such as corner rounding radius, are covered in the present draft also, but they require extensive work to reduce the ambiguity of their application to an acceptable minimum. Another problem tackled, is the coupling between 1D feature size error and 2D characterization. Correction procedures to decouple faulty 1D control from 2D assessment results are proposed. As the suggestion has been made to the task force (TF) several times to use the printability on wafer as a qualification for the mask, motivations are given why it is thought that this is not yet in reach in full, and suggestions are made on the path forward to consider it for later inclusion. It is believed that the general approach based on area is a good basis for such assessment by printability.