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Technology Stocks : General Lithography
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To: Andrew Vance who wrote (684)11/12/1997 9:58:00 PM
From: James Word  Read Replies (1) of 1305
 
Andrew RE: "More frustrating are the APD (Advanced Process Development) groups that define the process for manufacturing on their own and then "dump" it"

It's nice to see that R&D/Production feuds don't just exist at my
company. Our production folks alway accuse us of exactly that sort of
thing. We usually accuse them of willy-nilly changing our processes
to fit their past experience (ramming the square peg into the round
hole). "If it worked at half-micron, it should work at .35 too" is
the philosophy. That's just my perspective.

"APD lives in their own sheltered and tightly controlled fantasy world."
---Yeah, that's pretty much true. Production tends to live in a world of short-term problem fixing, with little time to develop in-depth knowledge, IMHO. No offense.

"If I have offended any newbie engineer or APD engineer..."
---Nah, It's all part of the game. Rivalries make work interesting.

On an unrelated note, I have a general question for any others
knowledgeable in this field: What techniques are companies planning on using for 0.18um processes? Intel claims that theirs will be
online in 1999. Other's can not be far behind.

Here are some of the options:
1.) Straight DUV (248nm) steppers/step and scan: Everyone tells me
that Nikon is claiming that their systems can do 0.18um. I just don't
see how that is possible with the linewidth being so much smaller
than the wavelength of light being used.

2.) 193nm DUV: Seems like this technology won't be ready by 1999.
The only systems out right now are alpha-test type systems for R&D.

3.) 248nm with enhancements: For logic devices, off-axis can be
ruled out. Phase shift masks are doable, but at EXTREME difficulty,
especially for Pentium-type mega-chips.

4.) 248nm with Top Surface Imaging: Lot's of work being done in this
area. May actually be a good candidate?

5.) E-beam/Scalped/EUV - Don't see how it could be ready in time.

6.) X-Ray - IBM's favorite. Still doesn't explain what Intel and
other non X-ray players are going to do.

Anybody out there invovled in this type of work?
I'm still in the 0.5 to 0.35 micron regime.

James Word.
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