How has lithography evolved over the past 20 years in relation to Moore's laws?

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Lithography has significantly evolved over the past 20 years, particularly in relation to Moore's laws, which predict the doubling of transistors on integrated circuits. Key advancements include the reduction of light wavelength to improve resolution, with current techniques utilizing 193 nm light and the emerging extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography at 13.5 nm. Immersion lithography has also been introduced, enhancing numerical aperture (NA) by submerging the wafer in water during exposure. These developments necessitate innovations in resist chemistry to accommodate the changes in exposure energy.

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  • Understanding of lithography techniques and their impact on semiconductor manufacturing
  • Familiarity with Moore's laws and their implications for technology advancement
  • Knowledge of critical dimension (CD) calculations and the factors affecting it
  • Awareness of resist chemistry and its role in lithography processes
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  • Research the principles of immersion lithography and its advantages over traditional methods
  • Explore the challenges and solutions associated with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography
  • Study the impact of wavelength reduction on resist materials and their performance
  • Investigate the future trends in lithography and their potential effects on semiconductor technology
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Engineers, researchers, and professionals in semiconductor manufacturing, particularly those focused on lithography techniques and advancements related to Moore's laws.

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researching "lithography"

I've been researching "lithography" and have been looking for some info on the evolution of various techniques that have improved this process over the last 20 years. Anybody have some knowledge on this? (In relation to Moore's laws).
 
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Given CD= k*(λ/NA), where CD is critical dimension (overall resolution essentially), λ= wavelength of light and NA is numerical aperture,

Well, one aspect of litho that has improved resolution has been simply to increase the energy (ie decrease wavelength) of light during exposure. This requires resist chemists to change their product to suit different energies.

Relatively recently, immersion litho started. This physically puts the wafer in water to decrease the NA during exposure.

EUV is the proposed next gen of light litho (13.5 nm vs current 193 nm light). Unfortunately, it is not so simple as just decreasing the wavelength of light. This has introduced a multitude of other issues that are being worked on in order to get the desired resolutions.

Are there any specific questions?
Cheers!
 

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