Applied Materials Sets the Standard for 32nm Mask Cleaning with New
Tetra Reticle Clean System
TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Applied Materials, Inc. today released its Applied Tetra™
Reticle Clean, the industry’s only wet
clean system that delivers damage-free, >99%
particle removal efficiency for 32nm-and-beyond photomasks. Enabling
customers to exceed 32nm specifications for critical mask cleaning
applications, the compact Tetra Reticle Clean system also sets a new
standard for productivity, offering up to four times the throughput of
any competing system.
“Conventional photomask cleaning systems have
not been able to meet the challenge of cleaning leading-edge masks
effectively without damaging them,” said Ajay
Kumar, general manager of Applied Materials’
Mask Etch and Cleans product division. “We’ve
overcome this technology barrier with the Tetra Reticle Clean system,
enabling mask makers to achieve the rapid cleaning performance they need
while maintaining the mask feature integrity and phase control that
their customers demand.”
The Tetra Reticle Clean system’s remarkable
performance, which has already been validated in a 45nm production
environment, is the result of several innovations in cleaning
technology. The system features a unique, flexible design and
sulfur-free, advanced ammonia-based cleaning agents that combine to
maximize photoresist and particle removal without damaging the mask.
Proprietary Uniform Cavitation Megasonics™
(UCM) technology distributes energy evenly over the entire mask surface,
avoiding the damage-causing spikes generated by traditional point-source
megasonic[1]
cleans. The Tetra Reticle Clean system also introduces NanoDroplet™
technology which utilizes a unique nozzle design to create small,
uniform, high-momentum droplets that evenly distribute energy and help
deliver 32nm-and-beyond cleaning performance.
The benchmark high throughput of the Tetra Reticle Clean system is
enabled by its ability to treat both sides of the mask simultaneously,
cutting process time in half compared to other cleaning systems. This
feature enables extendibility to future mask generations by allowing
different chemistries to be used on each side without mixing. The system
can be configured with multiple processing modules, offering mask makers
the capacity to eliminate processing bottlenecks and reduce cycle times.
For more information on the Applied Tetra Reticle Clean, visit www.appliedmaterials.com/products/reticle_clean_4.html.
The Tetra Reticle Clean system is part of Applied’s
expanding portfolio of photomask manufacturing and inspection solutions.
The Applied Tetra Reticle Etch system is used by virtually every
advanced mask shop in the world for 45nm photomask development and
production. The Applied Aera2™ Mask
Inspection system, just announced today, enables customers to
immediately see what pattern will be printed on the wafer. These
solutons will be showcased at the Applied Materials Technical Forum in
Yokohama, Japan, on April 15 during SPIE Photomask Japan 2008. Visit www.appliedmaterials.com/2008_PMJ.
Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) is the global leader in
Nanomanufacturing Technology™ solutions with
a broad portfolio of innovative equipment, service and software products
for the fabrication of semiconductor chips, flat panel displays, solar
photovoltaic cells, flexible electronics and energy efficient glass. At
Applied Materials, we apply Nanomanufacturing Technology to improve the
way people live. Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com.
[1]
Megasonic = the rapid formation and collapse of bubbles in a liquid
caused by high-frequency pressure waves
