Sizing the next generation of optical photomasks

Photomask technology remains one of the key enablers for the advancement of the semiconductor industry. Optical lithography will continue to be the mainstream technology for 0.25 micrometers and will likely extend below 0.2 micrometers . Continuous improvements in all aspects of fabrication will be required to support the ever decreasing error budgets as critical images continue to shrink. Additionally, stepper manufacturers will be migrating to large print fields via the use of advanced techniques like step and scan. The size of these print fields becomes limited, not by the size of the lens, but by the size of the photomask. For the photomask industry to cost-effectively implement the next reticle size, standardization will be required. Sufficient volume of production and higher process will be necessary to recover the high implementation costs.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.