First pilot-line-quality system has been released by ASML - the PAS 5500/900 (IMEC gets the first one). Check out www.asml.com.
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New PAS 5500/900, developed by ASML with key contributions by Carl Zeiss, to be installed at IMEC in Q1 99
VELDHOVEN, The Netherlands, September 10, 1998 - Building upon the
success of its PAS 5500 series of Step & Scan lithography tools, ASML
(ASM Lithography) has unveiled the semiconductor industry's first
wide-field, 193 nm Step & Scan system, the PAS 5500/900. On target
for developing next-generation processes for linewidths from 150 nm
down to 130 nm, the new PAS 5500/900 meets the SIA (Semiconductor
Industry Association) Technology Roadmap's timeline for qualification
and pre-production of advanced 1-gigabit to 4-gigabit DRAMs and
gigahertz-speed logic devices.
The new 193 nm Step & Scan tool is built upon ASML's production-proven
PAS 5500 system architecture and uses the company's reliable,
high-speed Step & Scan stages. A key difference from ASML's
established 248 nm PAS 5500/500 Step & Scan product is the use of
Carl Zeiss' new StarlithTM 900 lens with calcium fluoride (CaF2)
elements for partial achromatization. Also critical in achieving 150
nm resolution is an argon fluoride (ArF) laser source and the AERIAL
IITM illuminator with high-transmission CaF2 and aspherical optical
elements from Carl Zeiss.
"The PAS 5500/900 is targeted to meet the requirements projected in the SIA Technology Roadmap for the 1-gigabit DRAM using 150 nm
processes and for development of the 4-gigabit DRAM using 130 nm
processes," said Dr. Richard George, ASML's director of Step & Scan
marketing. "In achieving these demanding resolutions, 193 nm lithography uses cost-saving binary photomasks, unlike 248 nm
technology which requires expensive phase shifting photomasks.
"The first series of PAS 5500/900 machines will be installed at customer facilities throughout the world within the next 12 months,"
Dr. George added. "Today's debut of this critical functional tool set
and its process solutions, just in time for industry development
activities, is the product of several years of intense R&D in 193 nm
technology by ASML and its network of high-technology partners."
The PAS 5500/900 incorporates major technology breakthroughs in
several critical areas. To produce the PAS 5500/900 optics, Carl
Zeiss' expertise in CaF2 lens production was extended to meet volume
manufacturing demands for 193 nm projection lenses. New coating
technologies and polishing methods had to be developed to handle the
crystalline structure of CaF2. Fully automated polishing systems
produce the required surface accuracies of the quartz and CaF2
elements.
With its very large working distance from the final lens element to
the photoresist's surface, the refractive optics design avoids lens
contamination caused by outgassing from 193 nm photoresists during
exposure. Compared to catadioptric lens design, where the lens is
situated much closer to the photoresist, refractive lenses ensure
increased uptime and productivity. Developing the PAS 5500/900 optics also required advances in the manufacturing capabilities of the
principal materials suppliers. Critical CaF2 homogeneity and purity
specifications and required low levels of strain birefringence are
manufacturing challenges being met by Schott and Bicron. For 193
nm-compatible quartz, Carl Zeiss enlisted the expertise of Heraeus
and Corning.
Utilizing the resulting Starlith 900 lens with a numerical aperture (NA) adjustable from 0.45 to greater than 0.6, the PAS 5500/900
produces a field size of 26 x 33 mm.
Creating reliable ArF laser sources with lens bandwidths of 0.7
picometer and power specifications of 5 watts at 1,000 Hz was another
vital need. This expertise was developed in parallel by Cymer and
Lambda Physik, both of whom supply ArF lasers for the PAS 5500/900
system.
With the scheduled delivery of ASML's PAS 5500/900 to IMEC in Leuven, Belgium, during the first quarter of 1999, work will intensify on 193
nm-compatible photoresists and development of an overall,
193 nm lithography process for 130 nm/120 nm CMOS devices. These
pioneering activities will be carried out in conjunction with the
affiliate partners in IMEC's 193 nm program.
The PAS 5500/900 system has a list price of NLG 20 million ($10 million). |
