The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the “Critical Dimension and Registration for 32nm Mask Lithography” (CDuR32) cooperative project. The funding aims to give the Dresden region, as the European center for electronics, a competitive edge in advanced photomask development and manufacturing. During the next 2½ years, the project partners (the Advanced Mask Technology Center (AMTC) in Dresden, Vistec Semiconductor Systems GmbH in Weilburg, and the German Metrology Institute (PTB) in Braunschweig and Berlin) will cooperate in the development of technologies and measurement processes for highly integrated electronics.
As part of the German government’s high-tech strategy, the CDuR32 project provides the partners with a “head start” in the development of a strategic technology – and will create a competitive advantage for the Dresden region. Being supplier of the world’s most complex photomasks to the semiconductor industry, the AMTC plays a key role in this project.
A photomask contains precise images of integrated circuit designs and is used to optically transfer these images onto silicon wafers.
The cooperative project will develop mask technologies for the 32nm memory chip (DRAM, etc.) and the 22nm microprocessor (CPU, etc.) generations, which will be used to produce the emerging generation of chips due to go into production in Dresden starting over the coming years. This advanced technology project will make an important contribution to maintaining and expanding the level of IT and communications technology in Germany. CDuR32 is aligned with the goals of the European research support platform (ENIAC) and will help expand Europe’s position in nano-electronics. With a budget of €16.7 million (€7.9 million contributed by the BMBF), the project will also help create new and maintain already existing, highly qualified jobs.
Each of the three project partners has specific roles:
· AMTC – analyzes and develops the basic principles of manufacturing 32/22nm technology masks.
· Vistec Semiconductor Systems – is developing a new generation measurement system (LMS IPRO5) to meet the extremely stringent requirements of qualifying accurate mask structures, which will enable improvements in mask structures for the coming technology nodes – a prerequisite for the production of future chip generations.
· PTB – contributes its unique measurement capabilities and new mathematical analysis methods to solve mask quality issues; i.e. the definition and characterization of the necessary measurement and calibration guidelines.
Support by the BMBF during recent years has resulted in the creation of an excellent R&D infrastructure in Germany. This has helped Germany become a technology leader internationally, in photomask development and nano-electronics.
Vistec Semiconductor Systems GmbH
