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To: D.J.Smyth who wrote (20269)	11/25/1998 3:13:00 PM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 25960

Europe launches EUV litho project A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story posted 9:30 a.m. EST/6:30 a.m. PST, 11/25/98 VELDHOVEN, The Netherlands--A new European program has been launched to explore the use of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) technology for production of next-generation semiconductors requiring minimum device feature sizes of 0.07 micron. As part of the effort, European industry leaders are calling on close cooperation with similar efforts now underway in the U.S. and Japan as a way to help speed development of the technology. The EUV project is partly funded by the European Commission and involves Europe's ASM Lithography (ASML), the Carl Zeiss Group and Oxford Instruments Plc. The EC government is pitching in ECU 10 million ($8.7 million) to help fund the project, which will operate within an Esprit program, called the Extreme UV Concept Lithography Development System (EUCLIDES). Participants in the project will focus R&D work on optical design, mirror substrates, optics metrology, high-reflectivity multi-layer coatings and vacuum stages. These are a number of "show stoppers" in the efforts to make EUV lithography a strong candidate for future wafer processing plants. A number of other lithography candidates are also vying for use in wafer processing in the next decade, including electron-beam and x-ray exposure systems. EUV technology, however, has the backing of a number of industry heavyweights. Last year, the Extreme Ultraviolet Limited Liability Co. (EUV LLC) a consortium was formed by Intel Corp., Motorola Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (see Sept. 11, 1997, story). According to the Semiconductor Industry Association technology roadmap, the first ICs with 0.07-micron feature sizes are expected to be produced in 2009. This time frame would require the first delivery of beta tools by 2006 and shipment of commercial systems by 2008, noted European managers. Against this background, EUCLIDES includes a development effort to integrate an EUV tool. A dedicated tool integration program is expected to be launched in the next 12 to 18 months after results are collected from the initial EUV project. Under the EUV project, partners will perform a comparative study between plasma sources and synchrotron sources. They will also investigate total system architecture to ensure a viable system concept. According to a recent study by U.S.-based consortium Sematech, total investments to develop a new lithographic technology for wafer processing will run about $800 million before a tool is considered mature enough to be considered viable. Consequently, leaders in the European project said they are now seeking close cooperation with the EUV LLC project in the U.S. and another recently formed consortium in Japan to help lower the cost of EUV development. semibiznews.com