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Copper projects are successes

International Sematech has reported successful results with two suppliers in projects involving copper. The consortium says its work with the SEZ Group has demonstrated the ability to block the transfer of back-surface particles and foreign matter from wafers to the lithography chuck. In another project, Sematech has fabricated first-level copper damascene test structures using Applied Materials' Black Diamond low-k dielectric film.

The success with the SEZ Group came about with the use of a technique the supplier calls SpCE for spin-process contamination elimination. Introduced in 1999, the process is designed to reduce cleaning frequency and thus lessen stepper and scanner downtime. Sematech says the SpCE process eliminated copper cross-contamination during R&D tests. As a result, the method has been formally introduced at the consortium as a standard prelithography cleaning process for all devices.

Sematech worked with one of its member companies to explore Black Diamond's capabilities using existing etch and CMP processes and equipment for making sub-0.18-µm devices. The positive outcome will provide chipmakers with data that will help them integrate low-k dielectric more rapidly into their advanced processes.

Un âge d'or for chips?

The president of SEMI told a European gathering that chipmaking is approaching the dawn of a bright new era. Speaking at SEMI's International Strategy Symposium in Marseilles, France, Stanley Myers said, "We are about to enter the golden age of the semiconductor industry." Myers's buoyant belief is based on forecasts predicting growth of 25% in 2000 and 40% in 2001, according to the trade association's report on the symposium.

The big numbers will come because the industry no longer has placed its eggs in one basket, according to Jean-Philippe Dauvin, group vice president and chief economist for STMicroelectronics. "There is life outside of the PC," Dauvin told the gathering of industry executives in late February. Personal computers have given way as the driving force for chip sales. Instead, PDAs, mobile phones, and the Internet are fueling industry growth, Dauvin said.

The executive asserted that European chipmakers are well poised to benefit from the upturn in the industry's fortunes. He cited the region's large well-educated population base, high level of technology, and wealth. Dauvin added that European manufacturers are world leaders in the smart-card, communications, consumer, and automotive markets.

None of the speakers at the conference believes the semiconductor industry's notorious up-and-down business cycles are going to disappear, because the cycles arise from the industry's natural transitions to smaller transistors and new technologies. Dauvin called the cycles "good for our business [because] they force the chipmakers to seek new solutions for higher productivity," SEMI reports. The trade association also says the consensus among the speakers was that chipmakers and suppliers must cooperate more than they have been, at all levels from research to production.

Pact yields photomask advances

ASML MaskTools says its recent collaboration with Mentor Graphics has resulted in photomask advancements for 180-nm lithography. ASML MaskTools specializes in developing optical technologies that improve chip yields by enhancing the capabilities of photolithography processes. Mentor Graphics offers electronic design automation products and services.

The two firms have introduced three products developed in the course of an agreement signed in December 1999. ASML is offering chipmakers an unbundled license to use the vendor's patented scattering-bar IP in combination with Mentor's Calibre software. In addition, the partners have published a Calibre scattering bars application guide and created interactive software called Calibre WORKbench. The program will enable users to create Calibre process-simulation models and to verify batch tool setups. Scattering-bar technology can raise yield and increase process latitude significantly so that chipmakers can extend optical lithographic techniques to the sub-180-nm range, according to ASML. The vendor will directly license the scattering-bar technology for $25,000 per quarter for each plant using the photomasks. Information: 408/855-0500.

Advanced photoblanks coming

Corning and Photronics have signed an agreement to develop advanced photoblanks. The two-year pact calls for the companies to develop materials that will improve the performance of Photronics's reticles. The agreement covers Photronics's recently introduced product line, Sub-Wavelength Reticle Solutions, for advanced lithography. Corning brings its metrology capability and expertise in making high-performance materials to the partnership. Steve Carlson, Photronics's senior vice president of technology, asserts that "materials will play a crucial role in maintaining circuit pattern fidelity at the reticle plane." Advanced reticles will enable semiconductor manufacturers to improve yields and device performance because of better uniformity in critical dimensions, according to Corning. Information: 716/359-4566.

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