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Partnership to verify litho masks |
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Aug 09, 2006 at 02:58 PM |
 By Dr Mike Cooke
Dainippon Printing (DNP) and Brion Technologies have started a joint development program to improve the productivity and quality of leading-edge photomask production. This program involves the application of Brion's verification tools, typically used for design verification in semiconductor manufacturing, to the photomask production process.
The idea is that optical proximity (OPC) and other correction techniques need to be "verified" - i.e. checked to see if they actual correct for diffraction to give the desired pattern according to the original design. The problem is particularly acute for leading edge complex OPC patterns for 65nm and 45nm designs.
US company Brion has developed its Tachyon systems to conduct high-precision photolithography simulation for an entire photomask at very high speed—unlike conventional verification software that performs simulation on only a small, limited area of the mask. Brion has already delivered numerous Tachyon systems, which are in production now on chipmaker's fab floors.
DNP purchased and installed Brion's Tachyon system at its facility in Japan and is using it to simulate and verify the viability of photomask pattern data provided by IC makers. After identifying any potential problems in the designs that would result in printed defects on a wafer, DNP will then share that data with the IC makers involved. The ultimate goal of the DNP/Brion joint partnership is to develop a system that can simulate the actual printed image on a wafer based on imported photomask data, a system that could be used to fabricate high-precision, high-quality masks free of defects and circuit faults.
DNP's R&D unit, Brion Technologies (USA) and Brion K.K. are all working collaboratively on these efforts to apply Brion's technology to photomask production. The companies anticipate that Brion K.K.'s R&D capability in particular will be enhanced by the joint program.
Dr. Naoya Hayashi, director of the research and develop lab for DNP's Electronic Device Division, comments: "Photomask making from this point forward should be based on full knowledge of photolithography process characteristics. The Brion system, with its high-precision simulation capability, will no doubt prove effective in providing us with that data."
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