Case Study: Tokyo Electron Limited achieves prediction and prevention of photolithography pattern collapse with Comsol

Tokyo Electron Limited - Customer Case Study

Tokyo Electron Limited faced a growing manufacturing challenge as photolithography feature sizes shrank: cleaning fluids and surface-tension forces during development can bend and permanently collapse tiny photoresist features, risking costly wafer failures and lost production. To address this, researchers at Tokyo Electron Limited turned to Comsol, using the Comsol Multiphysics finite-element tool to study pattern collapse without the expense and time of exhaustive experimental wafer runs.

Using Comsol Multiphysics, the team developed 2-D finite-element models that include surface-tension boundary conditions and a nanoscale diffuse liquid–air interface, enabling accurate steady-state predictions of deformation across varied geometries. Comsol’s simulations correctly reproduced experimental critical aspect ratios and showed where traditional 1-D Euler–Bernoulli models fail, allowing Tokyo Electron Limited to screen designs quickly and inexpensively, reduce the number of costly test wafers, and better anticipate yield-limiting collapse conditions.

Tokyo Electron Limited