ASML Optics unveils new metrology technology
By Silicon Strategies
10/27/2003 2:00 PM EST
URL: siliconstrategies.com
VELDHOVEN, the Netherlands -- ASML Optics today (October 27, 2003) announced its first product--a metrology technology that enables reliable measurements of dimensions approaching the atomic scale.
Engineers and scientists are finding that traditional measurement systems based on interferometer techniques are unable to keep up with advancing technology.
ASML's so-called PerfectWave metrology standard helps solve this problem, because it is almost incomprehensibly flat--variation is just 1 nanometer, or about 10 atomic layers, across its 4-inch diameter. This consistency provides a new "gold standard" for calibration of advanced interferometer measurement systems, enabling a 5x increase in their accuracy.
"The PerfectWave metrology standard will also enable other industries to measure more accurately, a vital capability in the up-coming era of nanotechnology applications," said Thomas Polzer, managing director of ASML Optics, a unit of ASML Holding NV of the Netherlands.
Founded in 2001, ASML Optics was part of the former Tinsley Laboratories unit. In 2001, ASML acquired Silicon Valley Group Inc. (SVG) and SVG's optics unit, Tinsley, for $1.6 billion. Tinsley develops sophisticated optics for the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as SVG's (now ASML's) mask projection scanners. |
