In
microtechnology
Microtechnology deals with technology whose features have dimensions of the order of one micrometre (one millionth of a metre, or 10−6 metre, or 1μm). It focuses on physical and chemical processes as well as the production or manipulation of str ...
, mask inspection or photomask inspection is an operation of checking the correctness of the fabricated
photomask
A photomask is an opaque plate with holes or transparencies that allow light to shine through in a defined pattern. They are commonly used in photolithography and the production of integrated circuits (ICs or "chips") in particular. Masks are used ...
s, used, e.g., for
semiconductor device fabrication
Semiconductor device fabrication is the process used to manufacture semiconductor devices, typically integrated circuit (IC) chips such as modern computer processors, microcontrollers, and memory chips such as NAND flash and DRAM that are pres ...
.
Modern technologies for locating defects in photomasks are automated systems that involve
scanning electron microscopy and other advanced tools.
Mask data inspection
The term "mask inspection" may also informally refer to mask data inspection step performed before actual writing the real mask.
["Design for manufacturability and yield for nano-scale CMOS", by Charles Chiang, Jamil Kawa, 2007, ,]
p. 237
/ref>
Other methods of inspection use specially constructed light microscope systems such as are available from Probing Solutions Inc. These rely on white light, typically optimized at approximately 538 nM and use incident bright and dark field as well as transmitted bright and dark field illumination to see pin holes, edge defects and many forms of contamination and substrate defects.
References
Microtechnology
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