Intel passes on new lithography tools
By Reuters
May 23, 2003, 6:00 AM PT
U.S. semiconductor maker Intel has informed suppliers of lithography machines that it will not buy the next generation of tools, said Dutch equipment maker ASML on Friday.
The chipmaking giant will not buy so-called 157-nanometer lithography tools but instead hopes to extend the life of its current generation of 193-nanometer tools until it can jump straight into the successor of 157-nanometer tools, Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) tools.
EUV machines, which can make even finer electronic circuits than the 157-nanometer tools, are still under development and are not expected for many more years. ASML Holding, the leading maker of chip-lithography tools and an Intel supplier, said it had been informed by Intel of its decision, made earlier this week.
"We're aware of Intel's decision," said an ASML representative. Intel was not immediately available to comment.
ASML is hopeful that other companies besides Intel will buy the 153-nanometer machines.
Last month ASML shipped the first 153-nanometer machine to Interuniversities MicroElectronic Center (IMEC), a European independent research center. This surprised analysts, who had doubted that the new tool would ship on time after development was marred by teething problems and setbacks. IMEC said the machine worked fine.
Intel's decision to skip the new system could mean the machine was not up to its much more demanding usage, compared with research center IMEC, or could be because Intel has a lot of development money riding on EUV, industry sources said.
Analysts said the Intel move was not necessarily bad news for the company.
"It isn't great news, but it means Intel will continue to use 193-nanometer tools for many more years, and ASML will not see the low profit margins associated with the introduction of new tools," said ING's Ewald Walraven in Amsterdam.
Intel now hopes to produce chips with circuits as thin as 45 nanometers with the 193-nanometer scanners. That is almost twice as thin as currently possible on these machines, and circuits would have a width of less than one-thousandth of a human hair. Lithography tools are used to project an image of circuits and transistors on silicon wafers.
Intel, ASML and other companies are working together to develop EUV machines. Intel is expected to evaluate EUV machines also from ASML's rivals, Japan's Nikon and Canon.
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