Practical laser mask repair in the contemporary production environment

It has been found that the femtosecond DUV laser mask repair tool has significant utility in the repair of unknown foreign material (FM) contamination of sizes ranging from 50 nm to 30 μm with highly variable z-heights both isolated and within critical complex patterns. Another significant ROI is the repair of masks which have already been pelliclized (through pellicle repair or TPR) where the laser repair tool may work in conjunction with existing through-pellicle inspection hardware to detect and remove FM and correct pattern errors. The capability of the tool is also explored for repairs in patterns including the 45 nm technology node.