Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Cymer (CYMI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TI2, TechInvestorToo who wrote (20512)	12/28/1998 7:04:00 PM
From: Clarksterh	Respond to of 25960

Good article on lithography as the immediate area of growth in semiconductor equipment (vs, e.g., copper or 300mm). semibiznews.com Excerpt: Companies also are adopting different technologies at different intervals, partly because they're attempting to stretch their existing tool sets, according to equipment suppliers. The lines between process generations are mostly blurring because of attempts to extend lithography, said Pascal Didier, senior vice president of worldwide customer operations at Cymer Inc., the San Diego laser systems supplier. "The impact of lithography is across the board," Didier noted, "so chip makers have always tended to push lithography as far as they can in each generation before jumping to the next [exposure] technology." Today, chip makers are starting up their 0.18-micron processes with 248-nm tools, which originally were intended to serve only the quarter-micron generation. Now, using photomask tricks and high numerical aperture (NA) lenses, the krypton-fluoride laser-based systems are able to operate down to the 0.15-micron range and possibly to 0.13, according to some experts. "OPC and phase shift masks have been around for about 10 years, but they are now becoming important production options," the Cymer vice president observed. "But you pay three or four times more for those masks vs. buying a completely new tool set for lithography," he added. "So you must be very careful how you calculate the return on investment." Most chip makers, however, plan to make a big move to 193-nm step-and-scan tools in the second half of the 0.18-micron generation. "They will try to push 248-nm as far as they can before switching wavelengths," predicted John J. Shamaly, vice president of marketing at Silicon Valley Group Inc. in San Jose. "Manufacturing managers don't like to change photoresists, reticles, and other parts of the technology." But lithography suppliers are beginning to roll out 193-nm systems in anticipation of a major transition in the next couple of years. Clark