Advanced Mask Aligner Lithography (AMALITH)

Abstract

Mask aligner lithography is very attractive for less-critical lithography layers and is widely used for LED, display, CMOS image sensor, micro-fluidics and MEMS manufacturing. Mask aligner lithography is also a preferred choice the semiconductor back-end for 3D-IC, TSV interconnects, advanced packaging (AdP) and wafer-level-packaging (WLP). Mask aligner lithography is a mature technique based on shadow printing and has not much changed since the 1980s. In shadow printing lithography a geometric pattern is transferred by free-space propagation from a photomask to a photosensitive layer on a wafer. The inherent simplicity of the pattern transfer offers ease of operation, low maintenance, moderate capital expenditure, high wafers-per-hour (WPH) throughput, and attractive cost-of-ownership (COO). Advanced mask aligner lithography (AMALITH) comprises different measures to improve shadow printing lithography beyond current limits. The key enabling technology for AMALITH is a novel light integrator systems, referred to as MO Exposure Optics® (MOEO). MOEO allows to fully control and shape the properties of the illumination light in a mask aligner. Full control is the base for accurate simulation and optimization of the shadow printing process (computational lithography). Now photolithography enhancement techniques like customized illumination, optical proximity correction (OPC), phase masks (AAPSM), half-tone lithography and Talbot lithography could be used in mask aligner lithography. We summarize the recent progress in advanced mask aligner lithography (AMALITH) and discuss possible measures to further improve shadow printing lithography.