Photomask Manufacturing: An Example of Synchronized Ecosystem Learning

An empirical study of the productivity of manufacturing photomasks concludes that the uncontrolled growth of optical proximity effect correction and resolution enhancement techniques is driving up the cost of pattern generation and mask inspection to levels that threaten the profitability of photomask manufacturing. The marginal cost of production capacity, which is defined as the additional capacity required to produce one more mask per unit time is the driving metric.