Wireless system measures photomask processes

11/01/2004

DUBLIN, Calif. — A wireless sensor-on-a-plate is giving photomask makers a view inside the manufacturing process, letting them solve critical dimension challenges without work disruption or the need for manual modifications. The MaskTemp Sensor Plate, developed by OnWafer Technologies (www.onwafer.com) features the company's proprietary mobile metrology technology, permitting non-intrusive measuring of critical process zones.

The sensor-on-a-plate technology uses 64 sensors to measure temperature, recording the thermal activity in the process zone of the plate's surface. BakeInfo and PlasmaInfo features take the MaskTemp data and plot it in statistical process control (SPC) style for comparing individual runs to trends.

MaskTemp's MatchTool feature provides a go/no-go decision by matching the run data to user-selected SPC tolerances. If the process is out of spec, or the user wants to look at the process more closely, the OnView feature provides a suite of fault-detection and classification screens to analyze the root cause (plotting temperature versus time or temperature versus distance from center).

The technology, says OnWafer, is available for plasma etch, resist processing, e-beam writers, scanners, and wet-processing steps.