Fundamental Principles of Optical Lithography: The Science of Microfabrication presents a complete theoretical and practical treatment of the topic of lithography for both students and researchers. This sole-authored text includes optional computer simulation exercises as well as problems at the end of each chapter.

Microlithography is the main technical driving force behind one of the most important phenomenon in the history of technology - microelectronics and the incredible shrinking transistor. These dramatic increases in electronic functionality per unit cost each year for early five decades, have transformed society. The gating piece of technology in this marvel of manufacturing progress has always been the process of lithography - the photochemical printing of circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers.

This text attempts a difficult task - to capture the fundamental principles of the incredibly fast-changing field of semiconductor microlithography in such a sway that these principles may be effectively applied to past, present and future microfabrication technology generations. Its focus is on the underlying scientific principles of optical lithography, rather than its practice. It will serve equally well as a university textbook (each chapter has an extensive set of problems) and as an industry resource.

Much of the material contained in this book is, of course, a tutorial review of the published literature on lithography and related sciences, but a significant portion is new work, never before having been published. there is no other single book that covers the wide breadth of scientific disciplines needed in the practice of optical microlithography. The major topics covered within this text are optics (imaging and thin film interference effects), photoresist chemistry (chemical reactions, diffusion, and development phenomenon), lithography as a manufacturing process (process control, critical dimension control, and overlay), and resolution enhancement technologies.

The fabrication of an integrated circuit requires a variety of physical and chemical processes to be performed on a semiconductor substrate. In general, these processes fall into three categories: film deposition, patterning, and semiconductor doping. Films of both conductors and insulators are used to connect and isolate transistors and their components.

By creating structures of these various components millions of transistors can be built and wired together to form the complex circuitry of modern microelectronic devices. Fundamental to all of these processes is lithography, ie, the formation of three-dimensional relief images on the substrate for subsequent transfer of the pattern to the substrate.

This book presents a complete theoretical and practical treatment of the topic of lithography for both students and researchers. It comprises ten detailed chapters plus three appendices with problems provided at the end of each chapter.

Additional Information:
Visiting http://www.lithoguru.com/textbook/index.html enhances the reader's understanding as the website supplies information on how you can download a free laboratory manual, Optical Lithography Modelling with MATLAB®, to accompany the textbook. You can also contact the author and find help for instructors.