What is a reticle in a photomask?
The term Photomask (sometimes abbreviated to Mask) is used to mean any type of glass plate with a pattern etched into an opaque surface. A Reticle is a special type of photomask where the data for only part of the final exposed area is present.
What is silicon reticle?
A reticle is usually used in the front-end process of semiconductor fabrication. A pattern to be transferred to silicon wafers is produced by chrome etching on a glass plate. The pattern is transferred to wafers through an exposure device. Reticles are used for prior processing for the exposure process.
What is the difference between mask and reticle?
Historically, a mask or photomask referred to a pattern transferring device that contained the entire pattern of a single layer of a full wafer. A reticle, on the other hand, referred to a single layer of pattern that covers a small portion of the wafer.
How much does a photolithography mask cost?
The costs of creating new mask shop for 180 nm processes were estimated in 2005 as $40 million, and for 130 nm – more than $100 million. The purchase price of a photomask, in 2006, could range from $250 to $100,000 for a single high-end phase-shift mask.
What is a semiconductor mask?
Masks and Reticles. Semiconductor manufacturing entails the formation of various patterns on wafers. These patterns define the structure of and interconnection between the different components and features of the integrated circuit. The patterns are formed on wafers using patterning tools known as masks and reticles.
What is reticle limit?
The reticle size limits the amount of chip surface area that can be exposed using a single mask. This is set by the litho equipment, which define the largest size that can be exposed without errors being caused by distortion or imperfections in the mask.
What is a reticle in photomask?
A reticle is a photomask used for steppers and scanners (with step and repeat system) to transfer circuit pattern on wafers. Reticles are available for any types of steppers. NIPPON FILCON supports circuit patterns with various size-reduction ratios are supported to meet stepper lens reduction ratio.
What happens to scaled reticles during photomask step step?
The scaled reticles are optically reduced as they are stepped so that the pattern transferred to the wafer ends up at 1X. This means the dice on the photomask may be 4, 5 or 10 times larger than they are on the final product.
What is a photomask in photolithography?
In photolithography for the mass production of integrated circuit devices, the more correct term is usually photoreticle or simply reticle. In the case of a photomask, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the mask pattern and the wafer pattern.
What is the difference between reticle and working mask?
Photomasks are called in many ways including Reticle and Working mask depends on the application. NIPPON FILCON define them as follows. A reticle is a photomask used for steppers and scanners (with step and repeat system) to transfer circuit pattern on wafers.