Mask Qualification
Preventing defects from printing with state-of-the-art mask inspection
Even least defects in the layout of a single photomask can consign all chips on the exposed wafer resulting in enormous losses. That is why it is crucial to inspect all masks for defects, understand their impact on the photolithography process, and eliminate them before the mask is used in a stepper or scanner. The best way to reliably control quality at this stage is to optically emulate the photolithographic process using the Aerial Image Measurement. The AIMS™ system is the only scanner emulator covering all lithography techniques including Double Patterning, Source Mask Optimization (SMO) and Inverse Lithography.
AIMS™ 1x-193i
Next generation AIMS™ system convinces with completely new optical design
AIMS™ 1x-193i supports the further extension of 193nm lithography and meets the challenging requirements of advanced lithography techniques such as Multi-Patterning and Source Mask Optimization.
AIMS™ AutoAnalysis (AAA)
Fast and flexible analysis of aerial images
AIMS™ AutoAnalysis (AAA) is a software solution for fast, fully automated analysis of AIMS™ aerial images. It runs independently from tool software on a high performance computational engine called FAVOR®, allowing the AIMS™ tools to be dedicated for measurements only while the analysis runs in parallel.
AIMS™ EUV
Verification of EUV masks
The EUV mask infrastructure is of key importance for a successful introduction of EUV lithography into volume production. In particular, for the production of defect free masks an actinic review of potential defect sites is required, AIMS™ EUV.