Paper 12957-41
Paper 12957-41
Machine, process, and material efforts towards sustainable lithography
On demand | Presented live 29 February 2024 
Abstract
As the awareness of climate change and sustainability grows, industries are placing more commitment to reduce their environmental footprint. Semiconductor companies are no exception, and many are now working to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adopt greener practices as crucial steps towards a more environmentally responsible future. Amongst the top sustainability challenges faced in semiconductor manufacturing, electricity consumption emerges as a critical concern, with lithography tools requiring a substantial amount of energy to operate. As a track vendor, reducing energy consumption and optimizing tool efficiency are ongoing challenges at SCREEN, where hotplate processes rank amongst the most energy-intensive operations, especially during the bake of underlayer materials that require high temperatures to achieve full film densification. This paper shows an innovative energy-efficient process as a viable alternative to conventional spin-on carbon (SOC) and spin-on glass (SOG) thermal crosslinking systems. We deeply explore the feasibility to use an overall-wafer exposure system integrated on SCREEN’s DT-3000 track to harden underlayer materials specifically designed to crosslink via light, without the need of heat. We demonstrate how migration from a hotplate process to a 100% optical curing mechanism can lead to outstanding savings in energy and process time, while keeping the lithographic performance.
Presenter
SCREEN SPE Germany GmbH (Belgium)
Andreia Santos received 2008 her master’s degree in chemical engineering from Aveiro University in Portugal, where she specialized in polymer chemistry and characterization of materials. Her first experience in the semiconductors’ world was in 2011, when she joined Amkor as a photolithography process engineer. Two years later, she moved to Belgium to start working at JSR Micro – a leading materials supplier - where she had the opportunity to get deeper understanding into the photoresist chemistry. After working for a chip maker and a resist supplier, in 2020 Andreia decided to join Screen’s team at Imec, where she currently works as R&D Manager, being responsible to drive development and technical competence in the field of track process and hardware optimization.