DuPont Photomasks Sets Deep Sub-Micron Photomask Standards for Europe
DuPont Photomasks Inc. (DPI, of Rousset, France), recently announced the successful completion of a project to establish deep sub-micron photomask line width standards for the European Economic Community (EEC).
The program was undertaken in conjunction with the United Kingdom's National Physical Laboratory and Germany's Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, the national measurement standards laboratories for their respective countries. The project was funded by the Commission of European Communities Directorate General for Science, Research and Development, and the results have now been certified by the European Commission's Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM). The IRMM is essentially the European equivalent of the United States' National Institute of Standards and Technology.
DuPont Photomasks created a set of 20 photomasks with exceptionally accurate subresolution patterns that will be used by the European semiconductor manufacturing industry to calibrate lithography tools. The photomasks serve as a physical reference standard representing metrology standards that were developed as part of the joint research project to measure the critical dimensions of sub-micron features and artifacts. The photomask standards can be used to precisely tune tools and technology supporting the fabrication of semiconductor devices utilizing design rules as small as 0.18 micron and beyond.
"We leveraged DPI's global technology strengths to create the photomasks, utilizing technical expertise in our Rousset facility as well as in Round Rock, Texas," said Dr. Michel Tissier, head of DPI Engineering Europe. "The work is a very important step in establishing industry standards in Europe for advanced feature enhancement photomasks utilizing optical proximity correction and phase shift techniques that include millions of sub-micron features."
The photomasks were created using a proprietary process that included utilizing SAL605 electron-beam negative tone resist for the imaging layer and transferring the developed patterns via dry etch. The quality of the features produced on the photomasks enable the calibration laboratories to certify their measurements to a certainty of 20 nanometers. In trials, the process generated sufficiently fine resolution to produce sub-0.2 micron photomask features.
"As the photomask market share leader in Europe, we are honored to be able to employ our advanced production capabilities to help set industry standards," said Gerard Cognie, executive vice president of European operations. "We are currently the only photomask producer that has been qualified to supply mask standards for the EEC."
DuPont Photomasks Inc. (DPI)
DuPont Photomasks Inc. is one of the world's leading suppliers of photomasks, operating globally from nine facilities in North America, Europe and Asia. The company produces and supplies photomasks as well as photoblanks (photomask substrates) and pellicles (protective covers for photomasks). DPI is headquartered in Round Rock, and had worldwide sales in fiscal 1997 of more than $260 million.