Development and manufacturing techniques applied in mask making and wafer lithography have many similarities. Moreover, these disciplines have jointly progressed enabling generations of IC performance advancement. Despite the similarities, there are also fundamental differences in how these two fields have evolved including the driving forces and constraints inherent in each. It is perhaps difficult to fully appreciate these differences unless one has walked a mile in the others shoes so to speak. From how yield and cycle time are characterized to equipment infrastructure and the evolution of performance parameters, we will open a curtain on certain aspects of mask making from an erstwhile lithographer's perspective in hope this can lead to new avenues for mask and lithography co-optimization. In addition, as the industry ramps EUV alongside an expansion in global design activity across all nodes, it is timely to revisit these unique challenges in mask making to assess whether new frameworks might further advance the capability in service to the design and lithography communities.
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