Accession Number:

ADA243660

Title:

X-Ray Lithography In Japan

Descriptive Note:

Final rept.,

Corporate Author:

JAPANESE TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION CENTER BALTIMORE MD

Personal Author(s):

• Clemens, James T.
• Hill, Robert W.
• Cerrina, Franco
• Fuller, Gene E.
• Pease, R. F.

Report Date:

1991-10-01

Pagination or Media Count:

175.0

Abstract:

Integrated circuits semiconductors are the key components of modern computers, communication systems, consumer electronics, and the new generations of smart machines and instruments. Japans strong position and growing influence in the manufacture of semiconductors and systems based on them is well known and well documented. Microlithography is one the most critical elements of the semiconductor manufacturing process because it determines the minimum feature size and the functional capabilities of the semiconductor. Because it is used many times in the manufacturing sequence, the quality of the microlithography process i.e., number of defects, control for feature size, etc. is critical in determining the yield and cost of semiconductors and hence the competitiveness of the electronics industry. At present all volume semiconductor manufacturing is done with optical UV ultraviolet projection lithography, twenty-year-old photographic technology which has been and is still evolving. There are many issues that limit the technical capability and cost-effectiveness of UV lithography, and thus, alternate lithographic techniques are continuously being researched and developed. X-ray lithography, which was invented in the early 1970s, holds the promise of providing higher yields in manufacturing semiconductors by virtue of enhanced process latitude, process robustness, and resolution. Author

Descriptors:

• *ELECTRONICS
• ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
• MANUFACTURING
• COST EFFECTIVENESS
• SIZES(DIMENSIONS)
• COMPUTERS
• INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
• SEMICONDUCTORS
• X RAYS
• SEQUENCES
• JAPAN
• MICROSCOPY
• COSTS
• LITHOGRAPHY
• DEFECTS(MATERIALS)
• YIELD
• COMMUNICATION AND RADIO SYSTEMS
• CONSUMERS
• PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY
• LATITUDE
• ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY
• VOLUME

Subject Categories:

• Electrical and Electronic Equipment
• Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering and Control of Production Systems
• Solid State Physics

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE