Equation 5 · Patterning at the Limit: What Actually Happens When a Chip Is Manufactured
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Symbol λ
the exposure wavelength, is the numerical aperture of the projection optics.
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where is the exposure wavelength, is the numerical aperture of the projection optics, and is a dimensionless process factor absorbing illumination scheme, mask engineering and resist behaviour. Two-beam interference sets a hard floor: for a periodic line-and-space pattern the smallest printable half-pitch is / (2\,) , which is = 0.25 in the convention where R is a half-pitch. Everything the industry calls resolution enhancement — off-axis illumination, phase shifting, optical proximity correction, inverse lithography — is an attempt to drive down toward that floor without printing garbage.
Sources cited in the article section
- [1] International Roadmap for Devices and Systems 2023 Update: Lithography and Patterning ↗
- [8] TWINSCAN NXT:2050i ↗
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