To All:
Canon's EX3L stepper uses a CYMER KrF EXCIMER LASER!
INTEL and THE INTERNATIONAL 300-mm INITIATIVE FACILITY "HAVE ACCEPTED THE NEW MACHINE FOLLOWING A SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCE TEST IN WHICH THE EX3L EXPOSED MORE THAN 1500 12-INCH WAFERS WITHOUT FAILURE."
GM
Canon Semiconductor 300-mm DUV Stepper is Operational at I300I Facility
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 1998--Canon USA, Inc., Semiconductor Equipment Division announced today that its 300-mm FPA-3000EX3L DUV stepper at the I300I (International 300-mm Initiative) facility in Austin, Texas, is now operational and that I300I and Intel have accepted the new machine following a successful performance test in which the EX3L exposed more than 1500 12-inch wafers without failure.
Having the FPA-3000EX3L stepper in operation will free 300-mm process, materials and equipment developers from the bottleneck caused by a lack of 300-mm wafers with actual device patterns. "Our goal remains to help our members get a head start on the competitive advantages in productivity and technology that 300mm conversion will bring," commented Frank Robertson, vice president and general manager of I300I. "Having a 300-mm stepper donated and in place early helps us stay ahead of the curve on providing information to our members across the globe."
Due to the consortium's limited funding, Intel Corporation purchased the machine for use by I300I under a one-year contract that will allow sharing of resultant data with all member companies. Intel will also develop its own exclusive processes on the stepper.
Daniel Enloe, Intel assignee and director of patterning technologies for I300I, regards the EX3L stepper as a technology enabler. "It will let us keep our many other process demonstration moving at a good pace. Now we can print feature size down to 0.18 microns with some advance techniques such as phase shift masks, and make more relevant demonstrations for our member companies," Enloe said.
Placing the new 300-mm capable lithography tool into operation was a combined effort. "There were regular face-to-face meetings involving staff from Canon, I300I, Intel and the track manufacturer whose photoresist coater interfaces with our stepper," said Phillip Ware, director of technical marketing, Canon U.S.A. Semiconductor Equipment Division. Canon's South Texas Regional Office team includes technical specialists from Canon Japan as well as local applications, service and operational personnel.
Earlier this year, SELETE, a 300-mm development consortium of Japanese major IC manufacturers including new member Samsung of Korea, installed a Canon EX3L at its facility. The SELETE tool is already in operation and is providing valuable information for 300-mm process development. Two SELETE and I300I member companies also have Canon FPA-3000EX3L steppers in place.
The EX3L is based on Canon's field-proven DUV stepper FPA-3000EX3 platform with modified 300-mm wafer stage. The EX3 platform has an advanced all-quartz lens with a numerical aperture of 0.6 to achieve production resolution of 0.25-micron over a 22-mm x 22-mm image field. Productivity features include a field-proven air-guided XY stage and a high-intensity illumination system using a Cymer KrF excimer laser, and Canon's new CQUEST II pattern independent modified illumination system.
Canon U.S.A. Semiconductor Equipment Division, based in Santa Clara, Calif., is a leading manufacturer of step-and-repeat and step-and-scan photolithography tools. Canon Semiconductor Equipment is a division of Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in professional and consumer imaging equipment and information systems, headquartered in Lake Success, N.Y.
CONTACT:
Canon U.S.A., Inc., Semiconductor Equipment Division
Phillip Ware, 972-409-7845
or
Yuan Zhang, 972-409-7841
or
Bozell Kamstra
Bill Keck, 580-233-2496 |
