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To: Matt Webster who wrote (1803)8/23/1998 8:02:00 AM
From: FJB  Respond to of 2946
 
Intel's 0.25&#181m process uses Micrascan II+/QMLs. Intel needs Micrascan III+s or better for their 0.18/0.15 process. Although, Micrascan II+/QMLs have been tweaked for 0.18, this doesn't sound like a good production solution.

Bob



To: Matt Webster who wrote (1803)8/23/1998 10:50:00 AM
From: Katherine Derbyshire  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 2946
 
It is possible that a Micrascan III is field-upgradable to a IIIx, and so Intel's "tweaks" are actually upgrades. (Ask IR.) If so, they will generate revenue for SVG, but not as much as new equipment purchases would.

It's also possible that Intel is doing 0.18 process development with III's, and will buy new equipment (from SVG or elsewhere) once they ramp production. That's fairly common when a shrink doesn't involve a wavelength change. Often the optics in older equipment can print the smaller features, which is all you need for development, but the alignment, overlay, etc aren't good enough to give an adequate process window for production.

You also might want to ask the same question over in the General Litho thread. There are some pretty knowledgeable people over there.

Katherine