0.13-/0.15-μm production reticle process window qualification procedure for 200-mm manufacturing fab

The increasing complexity of Resolution Enhancements Techniques (RET) in optical lithography requires careful qualification of new reticle designs when they arrive at the wafer fab before commiting them to printing product. In order to qualify the reticle designs at the wafer level, process window qualification (PWQ) is performed by inspecting wafers printed with the reticles to be qualified. The output from the wafer inspection tool provides information on the regions of marginality within the reticle field or features within the die which can have a smaller than expected process window. tsmc Fab 6, an advanced high volume production foundry fab, uses an effective and efficient standardized PWQ procedure to qualify new incoming reticle designs described herein.