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And the Show Goes On Well, the show was an astounding success. The curtains rose on time, the players were brilliant, and each scene had us holding our breath. No, of course I’m not referring to the latest Broadway sellout, but to the recent Consumer Electronics Show. Dual-core processors are here to stay— turning us all into road warriors with on-the-go access to entertainment. It seems that every gizmo and gadget is all about power, performance, and price. Creative Zen Vision: M, touted as having the goods to give the iPod a run for its money, walked away with CNET’s Best in Show award. This 30GB, 2.5-inch screen media powerhouse— which also supports album art, simultaneous photo viewing, and music playback, with at least four hours of battery life—costs a paltry $330. Power, performance, price. All in one little package. And so my thoughts turn to SPIE Microlithography 2006. If CES is pure theatre, the SPIE community sits in the director’s chair. Showcasing both innovation and strategy, SPIE drives important decisions for our industry that are ultimately behind many of the products showcased at CES. Decisions that address questions like, which lithography process should I plan for on my roadmap: 193-nm immersion, EUV, e-beam, optical maskless, imprint or something entirely different? What XRET is best for a particular design? Is the design manufacturable? How forgiving is the process window?
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Spring 2006
Yield Management Solutions
What’s the best strategy to control line edge roughness? What data is required to ascertain if the device will achieve performance specs? Making knowledgeable decisions squarely rests on the quality of data and information one has. With this in mind, the focus of this issue is on enabling the most effective decision-making for patterning process control. “From Data to Decisions,” our cover story by litho guru Chris Mack, describes a conceptual framework for using metrology to systematically improve the progression from data to decision. Progressive mask defects are an industry-wide reliability problem, particularly when the defects approach the critical state where the mask needs to be pulled out of production and sent for cleaning or repair. Promos Technologies’ “When to Raise the Red Flag” puts forth a new methodology for effective dispositioning of defective masks. The concerns of leakage current at 65-nm is driving the adoption of FinFET structures. The decreasing size of these structures makes it particularly important to obtain good 2D and 3D pattern fidelity in lithography and etching. In “Optimizing FinFET Structures with Design-based Metrology,” IMEC examines the characterization of a detailed 2D layout and creation of a complete model of the lithographic process using design-based metrology.