EXE:5200B "rate of error slashed about 50%"; avoids double patterning.
ASML’s Twinscan EXE High-NA EUV systems can achieve an 8nm resolution in a single exposure, which is a significant jump from the 13.5nm resolution of current low-NA EUV tools. Mind you, they can achieve the same 8nm resolution but only via double patterning, which is more complicated in its process and has a higher rate of error in yields.
With High-NA EUV machines, that rate of error is slashed by about 50%, which is also why these machines are more expensive. For context, the EXE:5200B tools are expected to cost US$380 million (~RM1.6 billion) a pop, compared to the current Low NA EUV Twinscann NXE:3800E that costs US$235 milion (~RM989 million) per unit.
Intel reckons that with ASML’s new systems, its 14A fabrication process should be able to offer between 15% and 20% better performance-per-watt over 18A, or a reduction of up to 35% in power consumption. Specs-wise, 14A will be made using the new RibbonFET 2 manufacturing process, which is an upgraded Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor structure, along with PowerDirect, which is a backside power delivery network that connects components directly to transistors.
Intel: 14A Set To Be More Expensive Than 18A Due To New EUV Tool |
