The Lithography Tutor (Lithography Expert)

For fifteen years I wrote a quarterly column in the magazine Microlithography World (MLW) called The Lithography Tutor. (The column was renamed in The Lithography Expert in the fourth year for purely marketing reasons, but I still refer to it as my "tutor" columns.) The demise of MLW put an end to these columns, but they served a very important purpose for me: they become the nucleus of my textbook Fundamental Principles of Optical Lithography. So while the texbook contains almost all the information in the first 59 columns (in a more complete, updated, coherent, and organized fashion), here are the original columns for anyone who wants them. Lithography in bite-sized chunks.

Tutor 1 (January 1993, pp. 27-28), The Formation of an Aerial Image

Tutor 2 (April 1993, pp. 25-27), The Formation of an Aerial Image, part 2

Tutor 3 (July 1993, pp. 23-24), The Formation of an Aerial Image, part 3

Tutor 4 (October 1993, pp. 17-18), The Formation of an Aerial Image, part 4

Tutor 5 (Winter 1994, pp. 21-23), Positive Photoresists - Exposure

Tutor 6 (Spring 1994, pp. 22-24), Standing Waves in Photoresist

Tutor 7 (Summer 1994, pp. 23-25), Swing Curves

Tutor 8 (Autumn 1994, pp. 22-24), Photoresist Development

Tutor 9 (Winter 1995, pp. 24-26), Photoresist Development (Cont.)

Tutor 10 (Spring 1995, pp. 20-21), Depth of Focus

Tutor 11 (Autumn 1995, pp. 23-24), Depth of Focus, part 2

Tutor 12 (Winter 1996, pp. 24-25), Optimizing Numerical Aperture and Partial Coherence

(Note: the column was renamed “The Lithography Expert” starting Spring 1996)

Tutor 13 (Spring 1996, pp. 22-23), Optical Proximity Effects

Tutor 14 (Summer 1996, pp. 20-21, 28), Optical Proximity Effects, part 2

Tutor 15 (Autumn 1996, pp. 23-24), Optical Proximity Effects, part 3

Tutor 16 (Winter 1997, pp. 16-17), Resolution

Tutor 17 (Spring 1997, pp. 21-22), Lithography on Reflective Substrates

Tutor 18 (Summer 1997, pp. 29-30), Antireflective Coatings

Tutor 19 (Autumn 1997, pp. 21-22), Effect of Numerical Aperture and Partial Coherence on Swing Curves

Tutor 20 (Winter 1998, pp. 18-20), Swing Curves and the Process Window

Tutor 21 (Spring 1998, pp. 18-20), Isofocal Bias

Tutor 22 (Summer 1998, pp. 23-24), Pitch: The Other Resolution

Tutor 23 (Autumn 1998), The Natural Resolution

Tutor 24 (Winter 1999, pp. 11-12), Mask Linearity and the Mask Error Enhancement Factor

Tutor 25 (Spring 1999, pp. 20-21), Absorption and Reflectivity: Designing the Right Photoresist

Tutor 26 (Summer 1999, pp. 16-17), Specifying and Measuring Photomask Critical Dimensions

Tutor 27 (Autumn 1999, pp. 18-20), More on the Mask Error Enhancement Factor

Tutor 28 (Winter 2000, pp. 21-23), Impact of Resist on the Mask Error Enhancement Factor

Tutor 29 (Spring 2000, pp. 25-26), Line End Shortening

Tutor 30 (Summer 2000, pp. 26-28), Corner Rounding and Round Contacts

Tutor 31 (Autumn 2000, pp. 25, 30), Line End Shortening, Part 2

Tutor 32 (Winter, 2001), Using the Normalized Image Log-Slope

Tutor 33 (Spring, 2001), Using the Normalized Image Log-Slope, part 2

Tutor 34 (Summer, 2001), Using the Normalized Image Log-Slope, part 3

Tutor 35 (Fall, 2001), Using the Normalized Image Log-Slope, part 4

Tutor 36 (Winter, 2002), Using the Normalized Image Log-Slope, part 5

Tutor 37 (May, 2002), Using the Normalized Image Log-Slope, part 6

Tutor 38 (August, 2002), Process Settings and Process Latitude

Tutor 39 (November, 2002), The Impact of Phase Errors on Phase Shifting Masks

Tutor 40 (February, 2003), The Impact of Phase Errors on Phase Shifting Masks, part 2

Tutor 41 (May, 2003), Resolution Enhancement Technologies

Tutor 42 (August, 2003), Off-Axis Illumination

Tutor 43 (November, 2003), Scattering Bars

Tutor 44 (February, 2004), The Rayleigh Depth of Focus

Tutor 45 (May, 2004), Immersion Lithography

Tutor 46 (August, 2004), The Impact of Phase Errors on Phase Shifting Masks, part 3

Tutor 47 (November, 2004), Depth of Focus and the Alternating Phase Shift Mask

Tutor 48 (February, 2005), Designing a Bottom Antireflection Coating

Tutor 49 (May, 2005), Bottom Antireflection Coatings for High Numerical Aperture Imaging

Tutor 50 (August, 2005), The Death of the Aerial Image

Tutor 51 (November, 2005), Horizontal-Vertical (H-V) Bias

Tutor 52 (February, 2006), Horizontal-Vertical (H-V) Bias, part 2

Tutor 53 (May, 2006), Diffusion and Resolution

Tutor 54 (August, 2006), Diffusion and Resolution for Chemically Amplified Resists

Tutor 55 (November, 2006), Pattern Collapse

Tutor 56 (February, 2007), Line Edge Roughness, part 1

Tutor 57 (May, 2007), Line Edge Roughness, part 2

Tutor 58 (August, 2007), Line Edge Roughness, part 3

Tutor 59 (November, 2007), Optical Behavior of Pellicles

Tutor 60 (February, 2008), Focus Averaging

Tutor 61 (May, 2008), Mask Specifications: It’s not getting any easier

Tutor 62 (August, 2008), Measuring Line Edge Roughness: Fluctuations in Uncertainty

Tutor 63 (November, 2008), Proximity Distance

 

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