Product Briefing Outline: KLA-Tencor has launched its
next-generation photomask inspection system, STARlight-2TM. The system
is claimed to be the most cost-effective contamination inspection
solution in the industry for all types of photomasks, including
mainstream extreme resolution enhancement technique (XRET) photomasks,
at the 65nm node and below. According to KLA-Tencor the use of a
revolutionary image processing technology is at the heart of the
systems performance. The system has been designed for the detection of
progressive defects--an increasingly critical class of yield killers
that impact device yield over time and can cause catastrophic device
reliability problems.
Problem: Process challenges today include more
than just zero-yield occurrences. Chipmakers are challenged by more
gradual yield roll-off that deprives them of the highest performance
and profit parts. Crystal growth, haze and other progressive defects
that cause this problem are escalating, and no solution exists to
address them completely. These contaminants form on photomasks from a
variety of sources within the mask shop and wafer fab environments.
Over time, they grow and multiply as the photomask undergoes constant
lithographic exposure, reducing the lithography process window more and
more. This phenomenon increases the risk of devices not meeting
performance specifications and having serious reliability problems. The
combination of 193-nm lithography and 300-mm wafer processing further
exacerbates progressive defects since the photomasks endure longer
periods of exposure at higher energy--creating an ideal incubator for
these contaminants. In addition to finding these elusive defects before
they collapse the lithography process window entirely, the
revolutionary design of STARlight-2 provides the capabilities needed to
meet all of the challenges associated with 65-nm designs, including new
XRET strategies and the increase in feature packing density.
Solution:
With STARlight-2, customers are not forced to rely on other
requalification strategies that put chip yields at risk or result in
unnecessary rework and cycle time delays. Its smaller pixel sizes
(125nm and 90nm) provide the resolution and sensitivity needed to
detect mask contaminants on device layers with the smallest pattern
features before they affect the process window or worse, print on the
wafer. STARlight-2's improved algorithms also enable contamination
detection in high-density patterned areas, which are typically found on
XRET masks, and its full-field inspection capability allows inspection
in scribes and borders--where progressive defects generally first
emerge--as well as on both single-die and multi-die photomasks.
Applications: Photomasks defects and progressive defects at the 65nm node and below.
Platform: STARlight-2TM uses a claimed revolutionary image processing technology.
Availability: February 2006 onwards.