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To: Tulvio Durand who wrote (11580)	12/15/1997 11:14:00 PM
From: James Word	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25960

Tulvio RE: i-line stepper purchases. "Since chip manufacturers already have i-line steppers why do they need to buy more of them now, when the trend is towards 0.25 nm?" Not all companies at pushing 0.25um. Some are just now going below 1um. Some may be getting into i-line for the first time, some may be making a wafer size transition. Being on the leading (bleeding) edge of technology requires an enourmous investment that alot of small to mid sized companies can't make. "Do these new i-line steppers have capability to do higher resolution features?" Some do. As the stepper manufacturers are able to improve the quality of the lenses in the steppers, reduce vibrations, have better auto-focus sytems, the resolution can be increased. Also, overlay quality and throughput will be higher. Just as important as improvements in stepper technology are the improvements made in the photoresists. Those guys are really doing some amazing things. 0.25um dense lines on i-line is now doable. Isolated lines (needed for microprocessors and logic devices) are still not doable as far as I know. "For example, can they be retrofitted later with DUV excimer lasers?" That's pretty much impossible. The shaping of the projection lens is dependent on the wavelength of the illuminaiton. Also the lens must be made out of more transparent material for DUV.The design of the illuminator optics also depends on the wavelength. Since the lens in a $4mil stepper costs $1mil, it isn't really a good idea. It probably isn't even possible. James Word