Update on the performance of photomask repair and clean with DUV femtosecond laser processes

The specifications performance data for the latest generation system are compared to prior generations. These results are shown for both missing pattern (or hard) and unknown contamination (or soft) defects of various classifications in different patterns. For hard defects, capability will be demonstrated down to the 65 nm node, with soft defect repair and clean significantly exceeding to even smaller nodes down to 14 nm. The latter is of particular note, especially in the application of the cleaning of fall-on unknown contaminates on pelliclized photomasks. Finally, there will be a discussion of future work to further develop soft repair/clean process and laser processes for other mask technologies.