[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 8, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 12744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5662]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology


Announcement of an Opportunity To Join a Cooperative Research and 
Development Consortium for Alternative Approaches to Nanometer-Level 
Overlay and CD Metrology for IC Manufacturing

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and notice of Government owned 
invention available for licensing.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
invites interested parties to attend a meeting on April 26, 1995 to 
discuss the possibility of setting up a cooperative research consortium 
to develop innovative approaches to overlay and CD metrology consistent 
with SIA-projected requirements. Parties interested in participating in 
the consortium should be prepared to invest adequate resources in the 
collaboration and be firmly committed to the goal of developing 
innovative approaches.
    The program will be within the scope and confines of The Federal 
Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-502, 15 U.S.C. 3710a), 
which provides Federal laboratories including NIST, with the authority 
to enter into cooperative research agreements with qualified parties. 
Under this law, NIST may contribute personnel, equipment and 
facilities--but no funds--to the cooperative research program.
    Members will be expected to make a contribution to the consortium's 
efforts in the form of materials, equipment, personnel, and/or funds. 
The program is expected to last 18 months. This is not a grant program.

DATES: Interested parties should contact NIST to confirm their interest 
at the address, telephone number or FAX number shown below no later 
than April 7, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Technology Building, Room B360, National Institute of 
Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael W. Cresswell, Telephone: 301-
975-2072; FAX: 301-948-4081.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST) invites interested parties to participate in a 
cooperative research consortium to conduct modeling of overlay 
detection by electrostatic/magnetic sensors interacting with optical 
metrology target architectures commonly used in advanced IC 
manufacturing, examine enhancements deriving from target-geometry 
modifications and sensor-head innovations, design and evaluate a test 
implementation using Maxwell-equation-based simulation software and, 
formulate specifications of a candidate design for selected 
applications.
    In conjunction with the opportunity to join this Cooperative 
Research and Development Consortium, the following invention is 
available for licensing:

NIST Docket No. 94-040CIP

    Title: Method and Reference Standards for Measuring Overlay in 
Multilayer Structures, and for Calibrating Imaging Equipment as Used in 
Semiconductor Manufacture.
    Description: Imaging instruments for overlay-measurement extraction 
from partially-processed semiconductor wafers, are calibrated by 
providing a reference test structure having features which can be 
located by electrical measurements not subject to tool-induced shift 
and water-induced shift experienced by the imaging instrument. The 
reference test structure is first qualified using electrical 
measurements, and is then used to provided the effect of the said 
shifts on the imaging-instrument measurements.

    Dated: March 1, 1995.
Samuel Kramer,
Associate Director.
[FR Doc. 95-5662 Filed 3-7-95; 8:45 am]
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