Evaluation of the ATEQ CORE-2000 reticle writer

ATEQ Corporation has developed a scanning laser lithography system for use in "state-of-the-art” 5X reticle manufacturing. This system, the C0RE-2000, exposes optical photoresist and can write a typical reticle in less than 20 minutes. Its lithography performance is comparable to presently used electron beam systems but offers higher throughputs and lower costs. This paper presents the results of a detailed evaluation of the CORE-2000 including registration performance, critical dimension control, and throughput. Registration performance and critical dimension control were measured by means of a Nikon 21 Lampas system. System throughput was measured by writing a variety of device patterns, and was compared to the throughput of existing lithography systems.