SPIE Photonics Focus

“In the old days, all you needed was an optical microscope,” says Alain Diebold, professor emeritus and Empire Innovation Professor of Nanoscale Science at SUNY Polytechnic Institute and author of the Handbook of Silicon Semiconductor Metrology.
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"As a result, the etching process can become a random event. “Occasionally, there may be an unusual clustering or dispersal of photoresist molecules in a specific area,” says Gregory Denbeaux, an associate professor of nanoengineering at SUNY Polytechnic Institute. This can affect the final dimension and shape of the etched pattern, potentially leading to wider or narrower patterns than expected."

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"In fact, Bradley Thiel, professor of nanoengineering at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, says, “Finding these defects is like looking for five blades of brown grass in a football stadium from the press box at night.”

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