INDUSTRY NEWS

IMEC-Numerical Technologies' team to focus research efforts on phase-shift advancements

Numerical Technologies of San Jose will integrate its proprietary phase-shift technology in IMEC's photolithography development program under the terms of a recently signed partnership agreement. Numerical will work with the Belgian R&D consortium on new technologies and processes for 193-nm wavelengths during the three-year pact. The U.S. firm will provide phase shifting technology, training, and support services to IMEC and member companies.

Luc Van den hove, vice president of IMEC and head of the silicon process technology division, says the consortium is looking "to address subwavelength challenges" involved in manufacturing devices with 0.13-µm and smaller linewidths. Numerical will play a key part in this effort, he points out.

The need "to improve stepper imaging performance" prompted IMEC to partner with Numerical Technologies, says Tracy Weed, senior director of marketing and business development for the company. "They basically believe that phase shifting is needed for 193 nm, and they're intimately involved with implementing those techniques."

Phase-shift technology "allows you to extend the optical lithography process," Weed says. "It's not only important from a resolution standpoint, but it also enhances your process window and allows you to manufacture smaller feature sizes. The underlying concept is manufacturability. We enable the production of subwavelength devices." Numerical's services encompass initial design concept "all the way to actual silicon production," Weed says.

Optical lithography's death has been predicted more than a few times over the past several years, Weed notes. "They said, 'Well, it's over at below 1 µm.' Then they said, 'No, it's between 1 µm and 0.25 µm.' Then it was less than a quarter micron.

"There's a lot of gas left in optical lithography," Weed continues. Any barriers are economic, he believes. "I don't really see any limitation in the near future." The company executive notes that some famously touted alternatives to optical lithography in recent years have fallen by the wayside, particularly SCALPEL technology and x-ray lithography. "I think alternatives to optical lithography are being assessed, but I can't say there's any real big winner at this point."

IMEC has concentrated much of its research efforts in lithographic technology advancements. Last October the consortium named nine major chipmakers as the first members of a new 157-nm lithography program. Launched with ASML's involvement, the program was established to develop production-worthy 157-nm lithography capability by 2003. The nine semiconductor manufacturers are Intel, Motorola, AMD, Micron, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, Philips, UMC, and Samsung Electronics. International Sematech is also collaborating on the development of a production-ready gate stack process with equivalent oxide thickness of approximately 1 nm.

In a related development, Numerical signed a joint development agreement with UMC in Taiwan to qualify and use Numerical's Virtual Stepper system in high-volume manufacturing. The system facilitates the inspection of photomasks that use phase shifting and optical proximity correction technologies in subwavelength IC production.

The system is designed to detect which mask defects will be yield killers and which can be ignored. In development for two to three years, the new simulation-based tool "is only concerned with real effects that otherwise impact your process. Much of the time is spent looking at nuisance defects," Weed says. Numerical has OEM relationships with major manufacturers of inspection tools such as KLA-Tencor, Zygo, and Applied Materials, he adds.

The Taiwan-based foundry is not the first to use Numerical's tool, Weed notes. "At the level of deployment they want, they're looking for a leg up to understand whether killer defects are getting out and into their lines. I think Virtual Stepper technology...will become the de facto standard."

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