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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gottfried who wrote (53731)	10/3/2001 6:09:01 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

Hitachi to ship next-generation e-beam mask tool in mid-2002 Japanese equipment supplier aims system at 100-to-70-nm processes By Mark LaPedus Semiconductor Business News (10/03/01 16:49 p.m. EST) MONEREY, Calif. -- During the annual BACUS Symposium on Photomask Technology today, Japan's Hitachi Ltd. gave a sneak preview of its next-generation reticle-writing tool for high-throughput, 0.10-to-0.07-micron chip applications. The new Hitachi tool will compete against next-generation photomask systems from Applied Materials, JOEL, and Toshiba. Last week, Applied Materials Inc.'s Etec Systems subsidiary rolled out its new electron-beam-based reticle-writing tool for 0.10-to-0.07-micron IC processes (see Sept. 27 story). Hitachi's next-generation system--which will ship in the second or third quarter of 2002-- will utilize the same basic technologies as the company's current e-beam mask-making tools. Hitachi's two-year-old system, called the HL-950, uses 50-Kv electron optics and is based on a vector-beam shape architecture. The next-generation 50-Kv system will also be based on a vector-beam shape architecture but it will also feature a new column and an improved data-transfer rate, said Genya Matsuoka, senior engineer for Hitachi's Instruments Division, in a presentation at the event today. In an interview with SBN after the presentation, Matsuoka said the new system is geared for high-throughput, 0.10-micron (100-nm) production and 0.07-micron (70-nm) development applications. The existing HL-950 system is aimed at 0.13-micron production and 0.10-micron development applications, said Matsuoka, who is based in Tokyo. Hitachi's new e-beam tool is capable of writing an entire mask set in about 10 hours, he said. In comparison, current tools on the market take up to 20 to 40 hours to produce a mask set. "We do not exclusively focus on the throughput," he said. "We are also looking to improve the data transfer rates and other issues as well." The Japanese equipment maker plans to make other improvements to the new e-beam photomask tool as well. "Our current machine has three deflectors," Matsuoka said. "The next-generation tool will have two deflectors to make it more simple." Hitachi does not plan to ship the system until the middle of 2002 or so. Meanwhile, Applied's Etec subsidiary in Hayward, Calif., claims to have already shipped its next-generation e-beam tool. But as reported, Etec missed the 0.13-micron process window, due to delays in development of the system. As a result, Applied's mask-making tool operation opened the market door to rivals, namely Hitachi, JOEL, and Toshiba. "We are running neck-and-neck with JOEL and Toshiba right now," Matsuoka said. He declined say if Hitachi thought it was behind Applied in the next-generation e-beam market. "I cannot say," he said. "But we believe we can compete against [Applied]," he added.