More from Sematech on EUV and Scalpel....
eet.com
EUV, Scalpel systems get Sematech's support
By David Lammers
EE Times
(12/18/98, 1:24 p.m. EDT)
AUSTIN, Texas — A vote at the Next Generation Lithography Workshop,
held in Colorado Springs, Colo. earlier this month, resulted in enough support
for the EUV and Scalpel systems that International Sematech will focus
much of its research on those two approaches next year. The goal is to have
a lithography system in place by the year 2003 that is capable of
90-nanometer lithography.
While that doesn't mean the death of X-ray and ion-beam projection
lithography, it does mean that resources at International Sematech, based
here, will be channeled into advancing the EUV and Scalpel systems,
according to Gerhard Gross, an assignee from Siemens Corp. who is the
director of the lithography program at International Sematech.
Sematech spends about $40 million annually — nearly a third of its budget —
on R&D of mask-making, photoresist, metrology, and other supporting
technologies.
The Sematech-sponsored NGL Workshop attracted 110 lithography experts,
who heard half-day presentations from the sponsors of the four leading
alternatives to optical lithography.
A Sematech spokeman said many of the participants believe that taking
DUV lithography a step further, to 157-nm wavelengths, is the best
approach, but that depends on the development of lens materials that can
withstand the damage from the fluoride laser source.
While Sematech research in 1999 concentrates on furthering the mask and
resist parts of the EUV and Scalpel approaches, the goal is to narrow the
NGL research down to a single approach after the 1999 NGL Workshop late
next year.
Harry Calhoun, director of IBM's semiconductor research and development
center at East Fishkill, N.Y., said, "There are big risks if we don't keep
lithography pumping along. If the chips don't shrink, we can't bring
performance and price improvements to the marketplace. Lithography is the
key driver."
ASML, one of the three largest lithography vendors, is considing putting its
weight behind the EUV system, which is being developed by a consortium
including Intel, AMD, Motorola, Silicon Valley Group Lithography and
Ultratech.
Scalpel is also backed by a consortium, though the members have not yet
been made public by Lucent Technologies, the original developer of the
scanning e-beam tool. |
