The interaction of mask manufacturability and alt PSM design parameters

For the production of process generations below 100nm, double exposure alternating Phase Shift Masks (Alt.PSM) has been recognized as a proven wafer imaging technique. The large process window and relatively stable process control is seen as one of the advantages of this technology as compared with other RET approaches. The exceptional MEEF performance of the Alt. PSM is also an important factor as it makes the wafer Critical Dimension (CD) control less susceptible to CD errors on the mask. In this work a mask manufacturing simplification technique is studied and an improvement to overall manufacturability and cycle time is demonstrated through reductions in data volume and write time.