Mask availability for next-generation lithography

The Next Generation Lithography (NGL) Mask Center of Competency (MCoC) has been developing mask technology to support all of the major next generation lithographies for several years. Cross-cutting process development has been applied to generate progress in both the membrane and reflective mask formats. The mask technology has been developed to early capability stage for all of the mask formats. Proximity x-ray masks, although only for certain niche applications, are a very developed mask format. This information has been used to produce electron beam projection masks, in both continuous membrane and stencil formats, and extreme ultraviolet lithography masks. In this paper, we disucss the status of the lithography technology development and the obstacles that remain between the current early development capability and the availability for manufacturing.