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To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (935)	6/24/2004 2:21:27 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 43442

Immersion Litho Will Boost Chip Manufacturing By Richard Ball -- Electronics Weekly, 6/24/2004 Immersion lithography, phase shift masks and other techniques will push sub-wavelength lithography, but companies should carefully consider the economic trade-off. The warning came from Andre Hawryliw, managing director of mask maker Compugraphics, who spoke at last week's Semiconductor 2004 conference in Edinburgh. "I think immersion lithography, if some of the challenges can be overcome, can have the same effect as the introduction of the reduction stepper," said Hawryliw. Immersion lithography, as the name suggests, places a liquid layer such as water between the lens and the wafer during photomask exposure. This can increase the numerical aperture of the lens from around 1 to perhaps 1.5. Using this technique will allow 193nm lasers to pattern features as small as 45nm. It also means the chip industry can avoid using 157nm lithography. "The are some fundamental problems [with 157nm] -- immersion lithography is a much better bet," Hawryliw said. However, attempts to push chip manufacturing to the limits in the pursuit of Moore's Law will be tempered by economics, in much the same way as the aerospace industry found with supersonic flight. "Just because we can go faster than the speed of sound doesn't mean we should." Another technique that will assist sub-wavelength lithography is phase shift masks (PSM). "Phase shift masks are now routinely used for patterning contacts and vias at 0.18µm and below," said Hawryliw. Another type of PSM -- alternating aperture PSM -- could be used to improve the resolution of active areas, although this form requires two masks, one to define the dark field mask, the other a trim mask. "There are places this is viable -- microprocessors and memory -- huge production runs," added Hawryliw. Electronics Weekly is the London-based sister publication of Electronic News.