Dupont Photomasks, Inc.

Toppan Photomasks, Inc.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Austin Semiconductor, LP

Xiaoming Chen

Franklin Dean Kalk

Joseph Stephen Gordon

Janice M Paduano

Kong Son

Paul Chipman

Julio R Reyes

Charles H Howard

Xun Zhang

Daniel Sawyer

Pedro Morrison

Osamu Arasaki

Tammy Maraquin

Maihan Nguyen

A photomask assembly and method for protecting the photomask assembly from contaminants generated during a lithography process are disclosed. A photomask assembly includes a pellicle assembly formed from a pellicle frame and a pellicle film coupled to a first surface of the pellicle frame. The pellicle frame further includes an inner wall and an outer wall. A photomask is coupled to a second surface of the pellicle frame opposite the pellicle film. A molecular sieve that prevents airborne molecular contaminants (AMCs) generated during a lithography process from contaminating the photomask is associated with the pellicle assembly.

Photomask assembly and method for protecting the same from contaminants generated during a lithography process

A method for haze control on a semiconductor reticle, the method including performing a reticle inspection of a semiconductor reticle to detect haze formation on a periodic basis, performing a wafer inspection to detect haze defects, forecasting haze formation, and cleaning the semiconductor reticle. Also included is a haze forecasting method for haze control on a semiconductor reticle, including scanning a plurality of semiconductor wafers, identifying repeating defects in the semiconductor wafers, storing the repeating defects in a database as known repeating defects, and identifying an additional repeating defect that is not a known repeating defect, the additional repeating defect caused by semiconductor reticle haze.

System and method for haze control in semiconductor processes

A method and apparatus evaluates the runability of a photomask inspection tool that inspects plural sets of die, each die having a standard simulated industrial device feature at plural technology nodes. A technology node size is determined for each feature at which inspection by the tool provides no false detection of faults. A sensitivity module included on a photomask test plate along with a runability module allows determination of inspection tool sensitivity and runability in a single test sequence.

Method and apparatus for evaluating the runability of a photomask inspection tool

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Austin, TX, United States of America

Xiaoming Chen