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To: ScotMcI who wrote (25180)	10/11/2000 1:31:16 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25960

EUV lithography project on track, but equipment costs are lofty By Mark LaPedus Semiconductor Business News (10/11/00, 01:18:30 PM EDT) SAN JOSE - A member of the U.S.-based Extreme Ultraviolet LLC consortium here today announced that the organization is on track to demonstrate a prototype EUV lithography system in early 2001, but only the chip makers with deep pockets may be able to afford the technology. In fact, the cost of a EUV lithography system could run as high as $20 million a unit when a production tool hits the market by 2005 or 2006, said Charles Gwyn, program director of EUV technology at Intel Corp. And this doesn't even include the cost of the complex mask technology for EUV, said Gwyn, who is also program director of Extreme Ultraviolet LLC. This consortium is backed by Intel, Motorola, Advanced Micro Devices, and U.S. Department of Energy's national laboratories. "We expect [that a EUV lithography system] will be $20 million a piece," Gwyn said in a presentation at the Microprocessor Forum here today. "The reflective mask technologies [for EUV] is also complex." But Gwyn insisted EUV is less expensive than competing next-generation lithography technology, such as Electron Projection Lithography (EPL), x-ray, and others. But there are tradeoffs. The price for a system based on EPL could run as high as $15 million each, while a tool build around traditional phase-shift technology is projected to be $16 million, he said. These prices reflect a system that supports the 157-nm technology node. On the other hand, EUV is less expensive in terms of overall wafer costs. "The cost of ownership [for EUV] is $30 per wafer, compared to $35 for traditional phase-shift techniques," he said, adding that the cost of ownership for EPL is $52 per wafer. The Intel official added that the consortium is still on track to demonstrate a prototype unit by early-2001. "The integration [of the system] is 90% complete," he added. Intel and other members of the consortium hopes to use the EUV technology to reduce IC device geometries down to about 0.03 micron. Officials with the U.S. EUV consortium are looking to license the group's technology to leading lithography vendors--namely ASM Lithography of the Netherlands and Silicon Valley Group Inc. in San Jose. "Both ASM and SVG are each developing their own alpha and beta systems based on the technology," the Intel official said. During the presentation, he did not elaborate on the future of the developments at ASM and SVG, given the fact that the Dutch-based company stunned the industry last week by acquiring SVL for $1.6 billion. That deal is still pending. last uacquired It could not betste, according to Marcyk. It is highly unlikely that the group will transfer technology to leading lithography suppliers in Japan--Canon Inc. or Nikon Corp., he said. "This is going to be like political football," added the Intel R&D manager.