EL-C® systems are used for a wide variety of applications including front-side and back-side removal of particles deposited during production and handling, especially particle adders from other equipment. The EL-C process is dry and contamination free. Masks can be cleaned as often as needed with 100% soft particle removal efficiency down to 50nm sizes.
Unknown particle contamination on advanced photomasks during manufacture and mask handling in wafer fabs has been and remains a consistent problem. As mask materials become more sophisticated and geometries continue to shrink, the need for more efficient and damage free cleaning techniques has become increasingly important. Many of the older, established cleaning technologies have become less effective at soft particle removal and have become sources of feature damage and mask surface contamination. Several years ago, Bruker introduced a new mask cleaning alternative in the form of the Extreme Lithography Cleaner (EL-C®) product line of full mask cryogenic dry clean systems. The Bruker EL-C® system is now in production operation in multiple mask shops and in the mask management facilities of worldwide wafer fabs.
The decision to invest in high-performance metrology is based on more than instrument performance and price. Bruker is committed to keeping your tool running at the peak of up-time and productivity. We have a highly educated worldwide team of service and support personnel that takes great pride in first-time solution of issues. Our variety of service coverage programs can be customized to match your specific requirements, including optimization of tool performance, recipe writing, and in-person technical support visits.
Bruker tailors services to your needs: