Tokyo Electron Limited announced today that the company will begin shipping iODP100 modules in volume for its next generation 300mm coater/developer, CLEAN TRACK LITHIUS. TEL has shipped integrated iODP100 modules for the CLEAN TRACK ACT® to multiple leading device manufacturers worldwide, and expects to ship the first iODP100 modules for CLEAN TRACK LITHIUS™ during Q1, 2004.



The CLEAN TRACK LITHIUS™ builds on the technical advantages of the CLEAN TRACK ACT® platform, which holds a dominant global market share. TELs new state-of-the-art system targets stable 70nm technology production. In addition to advanced processing capability, the LITHIUS™ can be configured to include various metrology modules. Macro inspection and critical dimension (CD) measurement capability are available within a metrology integration block (MIB), which houses modules separately from the processing components of the LITHIUS™.

For CD measurement, TEL offers Optical Digital Profilometry, or ODP, which was developed by Timbre Technologies, Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of TEL. This technology outputs CDs by performing revolutionary high-speed computations on spectral changes in reflected light. TEL has combined ODP with a spectroscopic reflectometer, which is fully integrated into TELs CLEAN TRACK ACT® and LITHIUS™, and released it commercially as an iODP100 module for use in processing systems.

By incorporating the iODP module into the CLEAN TRACK, critical dimensions can be monitored in real time, enabling advanced process control, as well as rapid response when excursions occur. The system also reduces the number of non-production wafers, and eliminates the need for transporting wafers to off-line measurement instruments after completing lithographic processing, thereby shortening the lithography system's TAT (turn around time), and improving overall productivity. In the future, the company will couple the unit with its Ingenio™ series of Advanced Process Control (APC) systems, which features comprehensive lithography solutions, including the related processes of exposure and etching.