Toshiba and Toshiba Machine have developed an advanced electron beam writing system EX-11 for next-generation mask fabrication. EX-11 is a 50 kV variable-shaped beam lithography system for manufacturing 4x masks for 0.15 - 0.18 micrometer technology generation. Many breakthroughs were studied and applied to EX-11 to meet future mask-fabrication requirements, such as critical dimension and positioning accuracy. We have verified the accuracy required for 0.15 - 0.18 micrometer generation.
We have developed a new method of preparing pattern data to increase throughput of an EB writing system. The main idea is to expand cells smaller than a threshold size to the corresponding upper level cells during hierarchical shape data operations, which leads to reduction of the number of subfields and shots in our EB writing system. The cell expansions, however, could cause increase in the data volume and data conversion time as a result of destroying the hierarchy of CAD data. Therefore, we have introduced an additional rule, that is, not to expand cell arrays which have more elements than a threshold number. The new data conversion processor, which adopts the above-mentioned cell expansion algorithm, has been applied to a 64Mbit and a 256Mbit DRAM. The new module was applied to three layers, that is, the trench layer, the gate poly layer and metal layer of each DRAM. As a result, we found that the number of subfields and the number of shots were reduced by about 60% and 35%, respectively, for the average of 6 layers. Resulting throughput was evaluated as 1.8 times for the average of 6 layers. Performance change in the conversion processor has been examined in terms of data volume and data conversion time, and is discussed in the paper.
Masks and their fabrication technologies are keys to the further advancement of optical lithography. A stable SiNx single layer attenuated masks for DUV have been developed. A 0.2 micrometers contact hole pattern was fabricated using a KrF stepper with the SiNx attenuated mask. Toshiba mask fabrication system, including an electron beam writing system, a data base inspection system, and a data conversion system, has been developed for 64 Mbit DRAM class. Required mask improvements for increasing optical lithography resolution include better critical dimension (CD) uniformity, higher mask writing system resolution, and automatic shifter patten generation of alternating phase shifting masks. In addition, improved mask pattern positioning accuracy is also required. In this paper, experimental CD uniformity and resolution improvements, automatic phase shifter assignment method, and improvement in positioning accuracy, are described. The future development of masks will incorporate these key technologies.
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