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Florence Eschbach, Intel Corporation, Intel Mask Operations, Santa Clara, CA, USA, and Alex Gallegos, Intel Corporation, Fab21, Rio Rancho, NM, USA

ABSTRACT

Photoinduced defects impacting both photomask and wafer processes have become a challenge since the introduction of high-volume manufacturing 193-nm photolithography. This article focuses on identifying root causes for ArF photoinduced defects issues and reports on the impact on 193-nm lithography process. Wafer-process adjustments compensating for the effects of photomask photoinduced defects will be discussed along with strategies to eliminate the incidence of photoinduced defects formation.