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Technology Stocks : Dupont Photomasks (DPMI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Larry Brew who wrote (400)	3/19/1998 5:22:00 PM
From: JMD	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 955

Larry, Katherine--truly a pleasure to read through your thoughtful, in depth discussion on this topic. Certainly wish I could contribute, but thought you should know that I'm appreciative of the education. At the end of the day, I am lead to the conclusion that CYMI and their particular 'brand' of laser sounds like a key ingredient to the next generation shrinking process. I appreciate that ETEC and CYMI are in different ends of the business but it also sounds like ETEC is extremely well positioned. Other than throwing darts at the wall, would you or others care to comment on the relative attractiveness of these two? Thank you again for your professionalism in sorting through these complex issues. Regards, Mike Doyle

To: Larry Brew who wrote (400)	3/20/1998 9:02:00 AM
From: Katherine Derbyshire	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 955

>>Although TI is working with 193nm, you are correct as it is not yet in production. It's working with the next generation c6x and drams. I know .18 dram prototypes are being evaluated at IBM, strongly suggesting 193nm processing. The below is from the Cymer web site. I apologize to all for the mis-communication. Also, X-ray being attractive from my point of view was not suggesting it to be the next generation. Most likely ebeam. CYMI abstract below.<< Please be aware, though, that there is a lot of debate in the semiconductor industry about all things concerning advanced lithography. No one is yet sure which solution will offer the best price/performance at any given generation. The longer chip makers can delay the transition to 193 nm (or x-ray or e-beam for that matter), the happier they will be. (That's one reason why phase shift masks are such a big deal--they let you print smaller features with a given wavelength.) And never underestimate the cleverness of lithographers--optical lithography's demise has been "imminent" for at least 15-20 years. For those interested in a more detailed discussion of the issues, relevant references include: news.semiconductoronline.com spie.org Or, in print, my article, "Issues in advanced lithography," Solid State Technology, May 1997, and the references it cites. (Sorry about the self-promotion. I can lay my hands on things I wrote much more quickly than things I've read.) Katherine