Dry etch yield enhancement by use of after-develop inspection

Franklin D. Kalk; Keith J. Brankner; Lori Peters; Anthony Vacca; Scott Pomeroy; David Emery

doi:10.1117/12.373306

30 December 1999 Dry etch yield enhancement by use of after-develop inspection

Franklin D. Kalk, Keith J. Brankner, Lori Peters, Anthony Vacca, Scott Pomeroy, David Emery

Proceedings Volume 3873, 19th Annual Symposium on Photomask Technology; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.373306
Event: Photomask Technology and Management, 1999, Monterey, CA, United States

Abstract

Decreasing feature sizes combined with high mask error enhancement factors (MEEF) are rapidly causing tighter defect and CD uniformity specifications on photomasks. In general, dry etching photomasks improves feature fidelity but also tends to increase defectivity. Since the first automated mask defect inspection usually occurs after chrome etch, it is difficult to determine if a defect originated with the photoblank or during one of the mask patterning steps (write, develop, and etch). To understand and optimize the dry etch process, After Develop Inspection (ADI) has been developed to isolate the cause of photomask defects. In this study, ADI was used to inspect Cr photomasks incorporating iP3600 and ZEP7000 resists at several thicknesses. The detected defects were analyzed and compared to defects found after etch. A test mask with programmed defects was also created and tested to characterize the sensitivity of this new capability.

Citation Download Citation

Franklin D. Kalk, Keith J. Brankner, Lori Peters, Anthony Vacca, Scott Pomeroy, and David Emery "Dry etch yield enhancement by use of after-develop inspection", Proc. SPIE 3873, 19th Annual Symposium on Photomask Technology, (30 December 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.373306

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