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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (7144)	9/11/2003 12:08:02 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Applied tips aerial-imaging for mask inspection By Mark LaPedus Silicon Strategies 09/11/2003, 11:59 AM ET MONTEREY, Calif. -- Applied Materials Inc. here today (Sept. 11, 2003) is expected to disclose a new photomask inspection technology, based on an "off-focus aerial imaging" scheme. In a paper presented at the Bacus Symposium on Photomask Technology in Monterey, Applied's Etec Systems Inc. unit is expected to describe the Aera193, an aerial image-based, off-focus inspection technology for use in photomask defect inspection. The technology is reportedly geared for defect inspection in 193-nm lithography applications, according to analysts. Applied's aerial-imaging technology possibly represents a paradigm shift in photomask inspection and could threaten KLA-Tencor Inc.'s dominance in the marketplace. It appears that Applied's technology is indeed a breakthrough. "The concept inspects a given mask based on its aerial image with selected wafer exposure conditions," according to the paper from Etec, a supplier of electron beams and pattern generators for mask-making applications. Etec, a unit of Applied, is based in Hayward, Calif. "As reticle enhancement techniques like OPC are designed to enhance the aerial image of a mask, this concept offers a comprehensive way of inspecting these techniques," according to Etec's paper. "The inspection is shifted from detecting every single minor change on mask to detecting what on mask could possibly impact the printing image quality on the wafer." The industry is ripe for a new way of inspecting mask. "Aggressive model-based OPC are being used more and more frequently in order to achieve the extremely tight mask CD specifications required by the 90-nm technology node," according to the paper. "State-of-the-art mask inspection is challenged to detect CD defects close to metrology resolution," the paper said. In aerial inspection, "the shifting (of) the inspection off-focus can provide a more sensitive detection," according to the paper.