Verification and application of multi-source focus quantification

International audienceThe concept of the multi-source focus correlation method was presented in 2015 [1, 2]. A more accurate understanding of real on-product focus can be obtained by gathering information from different sectors: design, scanner short loop monitoring, scanner leveling, on-product focus and topography. This work will show that chip topography can be predicted from reticle density and perimeter density data, including experimental proof.Different pixel sizes are used to perform the correlation in-line with the minimum resolution, correlation length of CMP effects and the spot size of the scanner level sensor.Potential applications of the topography determination will be evaluated, includingoptimizing scanner leveling by ignoring non-critical parts of the field, and without the need for time-consuming offline topography measurements

Product layout induced topography effects on intrafield levelling

International audienceWith continuing dimension shrinkage using the TWINSCAN NXT:1950i scanner on the 28nm node and beyond, the imaging depth of focus (DOF) becomes more critical. Focus budget breakdown studies [Ref 2, 5] show that even though the intrafield component stays the same, it becomes a larger relative percentage of the overall DOF. Process induced topography along with reduced Process Window can lead to yield limitations and defectivity issues on the wafer. In a previous paper, the feasibility of anticipating the scanner levelling measurements (Level Sensor, Agile and Topography) has been shown [1]. This model, built using a multiple variable analysis (PLS: Partial Least Square regression) and GDS densities at different layers showed prediction capabilities of the scanner topography readings up to 0.78 Q² (the equivalent of R² for expected prediction). Using this model, care areas can be defined as parts of the field that cannot be seen nor corrected by the scanner, which can lead to local DOF shrinkage and printing issues. This paper will investigate the link between the care areas and the intrafield focus that can be seen at the wafer level, using offline topography measurements as a reference. Some improvements made on the model are also presented

Predictability and impact of product layout induced topology on across-field focus control

International audienceWith continuing dimension shrinkage using the TWINSCAN NXT:1950i scanner on the 28nm node and beyond, the imaging depth of focus (DOF) becomes more critical. Focus budget breakdown studies [Ref 1, 5] show that even though the intrafield component stays the same this becomes a larger relative percentage of the overall DOF. Process induced topography along with reduced Process Window can lead to yield limitations and defectivity issues on the wafer. To improve focus margin, a study has been started to determine if some correlations between scanner levelling performance, product layout and topography can be observed. Both topography and levelling intrafield fingerprints show a large systematic component that seems to be product related. In particular, scanner levelling measurement maps present a lot of similarities with the layout of the product. The present paper investigates the possibility to model the level sensor's measured height as a function of layer design densities or perimeter data of the product. As one component of the systematics from the level sensor measurements is process induced topography due to previous deposition, etching and CMP, several layer density parameters were extracted from the GDS's. These were combined through a multiple variable analysis (PLS: Partial Least Square regression) to determine the weighting of each layer and each parameter. Current work shows very promising results using this methodology, with description quality up to 0.8 R² and expected prediction quality up to 0.78 Q². Since product layout drives some intrafield focus component it is also important to be able to assess intrafield focus uniformity from post processing. This has been done through a hyper dense focus map experiment which is presented in this paper

Natural human plasmacytoid dendritic cells induce antigen-specific T-cell responses in melanoma patients

Item does not contain fulltextVaccination against cancer by using dendritic cells has for more than a decade been based on dendritic cells generated ex vivo from monocytes or CD34(+) progenitors. Here, we report on the first clinical study of therapeutic vaccination against cancer using naturally occurring plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC). Fifteen patients with metastatic melanoma received intranodal injections of pDCs activated and loaded with tumor antigen-associated peptides ex vivo. In vivo imaging showed that administered pDCs migrated and distributed over multiple lymph nodes. Several patients mounted antivaccine CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell responses. Despite the limited number of administered pDCs, an IFN signature was observed after each vaccination. These results indicate that vaccination with naturally occurring pDC is feasible with minimal toxicity and that in patients with metastatic melanoma, it induces favorable immune responses. Cancer Res; 73(3); 1063-75. (c)2012 AACR

Verifying a simplification of mutual exclusion by Lycklama-Hadzilacos

<p>A simplification of the mutual exclusion algorithm of Lycklama and Hadzilacos (ACM Trans Program Lang Syst 13:558-576, 1991) is presented. It uses only four nonatomic shared bits per thread to guarantee mutual exclusion with the first-come-first-served property. The algorithm is verified by assertional methods, aided by the proof assistant PVS. A variation with five bits per thread is also given. This variation may give better performance when the number of threads is large. The use of the proof assistant made it easy to transfer the proof of the main algorithm to the variation.</p>