Dr. Christian M. Chovino Profile

Dr. Christian M. Chovino

Engineering Manager at Tekscend Photomask Round Rock Inc

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Publications (14)

Proceedings Article | 27 May 2009 Paper

Contamination control for ArF photo masks

Joseph Gordon, Marianna Silova, Brid Connolly, Jeroen Huijbregtse, Nicolae Maxim, Larry Frisa, Christian Chovino, Colleen Weins

Proceedings Volume 7470, 74700C (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.835174

KEYWORDS: Air contamination, Reticles, Photomasks, Pellicles, Humidity, Lithography, Contamination, Manufacturing, Contamination control, Optical lithography

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Advanced photolithography tools use 193 nanometer wavelength light for conventional and immersion printing. The increased energy of 193 nm (ArF) light coupled with the higher absorption cross section of most materials has lead to a dramatic increase in the rate of haze formation as compared to previously used lithographic wavelengths (248 KrF and 365 nm i-line systems). It is well known that at this short wavelength photochemical reactions are enhanced leading to progressive defect formation, or haze, on optical surfaces within microlithography tools. Therefore, strict contamination control of the optics environment is needed to avoid cumulative effects. Such measures have been implemented in lithography tools both for the optics and for the reticle during exposure. However, the patterned side of the photomask is the most sensitive element in the litho optical path for haze growth, because it is in focus and small defects will show up as printing defects. Moreover, the reticle life time depends both on rigorous contamination control for expose and transport/storage conditions (both inside and outside of the lithography tool). The litho operating cost depends directly on reticle life time. It is imperative that the industry takes the required measures to improve the airborne molecular contamination levels both in the storage part of the photolithography tool and in devices used to transport reticles outside of the tool to slow down reticle haze Past studies have shown the large effects of humidity and AMC on haze growth during storage and exposure. Therefore, significant improvements in storage and exposure environment have been implemented by many fabs to reduce the frequency of haze failures. It has also been shown that outgassing from materials surrounding the mask can influence or cause haze. It is clear that the reticle must be adequately protected from contamination sources throughout the life cycle of the reticle (both inside and outside of the lithography tool). In this paper we examine improvements in the storage conditions of reticles inside the lithography tool as well as improvements in commercial SMIF pods used in fab storage and automated handling of reticles.

Proceedings Article | 30 October 2007 Paper

Study of time dependent 193 nm reticle haze

Joseph Gordon, Larry Frisa, Christian Chovino, David Chan, John Keagy, Colleen Weins

Proceedings Volume 6730, 67301E (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.747145

KEYWORDS: Air contamination, Reticles, Photomasks, Humidity, Contamination, Inspection, Atmospheric particles, Semiconducting wafers, Data modeling, Semiconductors

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Proceedings Article | 11 May 2007 Paper

Influence of environmental components on haze growth

Joseph Gordon, David Chan, Larry Frisa, Colleen Weins, Christian Chovino, John Keagy, Steve Mahoney, Frank Chen, Makoto Kozuma, Kyoko Kuroki, Takahiro Matsuura

Proceedings Volume 6607, 660707 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.728920

KEYWORDS: Air contamination, Photomasks, Reticles, Pellicles, Atmospheric particles, Sulfur, Gases, Nitrogen, Semiconducting wafers, Semiconductors

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Proceedings Article | 3 May 2007 Paper

Damage free megasonic resonance cleaning for the 45nm design rule

Steve Osborne, Valentine Baudiquez, Thomas Rode, Christian Chovino, Hidekazu Takahashi, Eric Woster

Proceedings Volume 6533, 65331D (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.736531

KEYWORDS: Particles, Cavitation, Acoustics, Head, Aluminum, Photomasks, Reflection, Reflectivity, Wave plates, Scanning electron microscopy

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Proceedings Article | 20 October 2006 Paper

Manufacturing of the first EUV full-field scanner mask

Uwe Dersch, Rico Buettner, Christian Chovino, Steffen Franz, Torben Heins, Holger Herguth, Jan Hendrik Peters, Thomas Rode, Florian Letzkus, Joerg Butschke, Mathias Irmscher

Proceedings Volume 6349, 63492G (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.686035

KEYWORDS: Etching, Extreme ultraviolet, Photomasks, Reflectivity, Manufacturing, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Scanners, Optical lithography, Photoresist processing, Chromium

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Proceedings Article | 22 March 2006 Paper

Demonstration of phase-shift masks for extreme-ultraviolet lithography

Bruno La Fontaine, Adam Pawloski, Obert Wood, Yunfei Deng, Harry Levinson, Patrick Naulleau, Paul Denham, Eric Gullikson, Brian Hoef, Christian Holfeld, Christian Chovino, Florian Letzkus

Proceedings Volume 6151, 61510A (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.652212

KEYWORDS: Photomasks, Extreme ultraviolet, Reflectivity, Etching, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Printing, Multilayers, Metrology, Scanning electron microscopy, Lithography

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Proceedings Article | 8 November 2005 Paper

Investigation of sulfate-free clean processes for next generation lithography

Christian Chovino, Stefan Helbig, Petr Haschke, Werner Saule

Proceedings Volume 5992, 59923E (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.632055

KEYWORDS: Scanning probe microscopy, Photomasks, Particles, Chemistry, Hydrogen, Reflectivity, Ozone, Crystals, Contamination, Lithography

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Proceedings Article | 8 November 2005 Paper

Influence of organic contamination on photomask performance

Christian Chovino, Stefan Helbig, Wolfgang Dieckmann, Karsten Bubke, Peter Dress

Proceedings Volume 5992, 59923F (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.632053

KEYWORDS: Photomasks, Reflection, Contamination, Reflectivity, Optical properties, Spectroscopy, Sensors, Natural surfaces, Reticles, Printing

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Proceedings Article | 28 June 2005 Paper

AUV5500: advanced in situ dry cleaning and metrology process for next generation lithography

Christian Chovino, Stefan Helbig, Peter Dress

Proceedings Volume 5853, (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.617119

KEYWORDS: Reflectivity, Ultraviolet radiation, Spectroscopy, Photomasks, Reflection, Contamination, Quartz, Reticles, Particles, Optical properties

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Proceedings Article | 20 May 2004 Paper

Architectural choices for EUV lithography masks: patterned absorbers and patterned reflectors

Bruno La Fontaine, Adam Pawloski, Yunfei Deng, Christian Chovino, Laurent Dieu, Obert Wood, Harry Levinson

Proceedings Volume 5374, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.539074

KEYWORDS: Photomasks, Semiconducting wafers, Reflectors, Binary data, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Multilayers, Critical dimension metrology, Reticles, Printing, Optical lithography

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Proceedings Article | 17 December 2003 Paper

EUV mask making: an approach based on the direct patterning of the EUV reflector

Christian Chovino, Laurent Dieu, Eric Johnstone, Julio Reyes, Bruno La Fontaine, Harry Levinson, Adam Pawloski

Proceedings Volume 5256, (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.518259

KEYWORDS: Photomasks, Extreme ultraviolet, Optical lithography, Etching, Extreme ultraviolet lithography, Reflectivity, Inspection, Reflectors, Lithography, Image processing

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Proceedings Article | 17 December 2003 Paper

Influence of antireflection coatings in ArF lithography

Bruno La Fontaine, Adam Pawloski, Alden Acheta, Yunfei Deng, Harry Levinson, Christopher Spence, Christian Chovino, Laurent Dieu, Eric Johnstone, Franklin Kalk

Proceedings Volume 5256, (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.518220

KEYWORDS: Reticles, Semiconducting wafers, Lithography, Modulation transfer functions, Reflectivity, Spatial frequencies, Critical dimension metrology, Chromium, Antireflective coatings, Scanners

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