Stepper Upgrades

Featured at Semicon West

Nikon Corp offers a series of product enhancements for existing Nikon Step-and-Repeat (NSR) lithography systems. Introduced at Semicon West by Nikon Precision Inc., these hardware and software upgrades give customers options for improving the productivity of their installed Nikon steppers with very little additional investment. NPI has introduced a total of six upgrades in four categories: system control, diagnostic, illumination, and mechanical enhancements. All upgrades are designed for retrofit, are competitively priced, and assist Nikon customers in increasing the performance of their NSR tools without investing large amounts of capital into new equipment.

The NikonNEST system is now available with a controller upgrade to a PC-based Windows NT version called NikonNEST 2. Covering NSR stepper models 5 through 10, this second-generation NikonNEST product replaces the DEC PDP1 I computer, improves the system performance, and adds functionality. NikonNEST 2 offers enhanced error handling and analysis, GUI file transfer, remote stepper access, and real-time shot display and logging features. In addition, throughput is increased by 3%-10%.

In the diagnostic field, NPI announced two new specialty reticles for image plane optimization (IPO) and alignment optimization (AOR). The IPO reticle allows for a direct correlation between Nikon's Self-Measurement Program (SMP) and the visual method for optimum image plane determination. The alignment mark variations offered by AOR allow rapid optimization of mark pitch, structure, and duty cycle for a customer's process. These reticles optimize tool characterization, increase yield, and decrease set-up time. The company's illumination enhancements, Power Up 1, Power Up 2, and Power Up 3, cover NSR step-per models 6 through 10. These upgrades increase an NSR's current illumination intensity, which reduces exposure time and raises throughput by 1.5%-4%.

NPI's two mechanical enhancements are a new x- and y-axis ball screw stage upgrade and a product dubbed Pre-alignment II. These upgrades are being introduced worldwide following enthusiastic acceptance at key customer sites in the U.S. The ball screw replaces the standard x- and y-axis stage lead screws and allows the customer to improve the drive mechanism without the expense of installing an entirely new stage. The new ball screw improves precision, increases reliability, and results in a throughput increase of between 5%-10%. This mechanism was specifically designed as an upgrade for NSR model 6 through 9. It is a standard feature on NSR model 10 and higher. The Pre-alignment 11 upgrade improves wafer alignment accuracy, which decreases downtime and increases throughout by an estimated 3%.

Nikon Precision Inc., 1399 Shoreway Rd., Belmont, CA 94002-4107. Contact: Susan Bernardi, 650-508-3819; Fax: 650-508-4600.