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The Business We Are In
Prior to 1997, the trend in optical lithography was simple:
Between 1997 and 1999, the printed critical dimensions of semiconductor devices started to shrink beyond the printing capability of the traditional exposure tools, even despite the fact the semiconductor industry was introducing 248-nm laser-based DUV (Deep Ultra Violet) lithography in a late attempt to keep pace with Moore’s Law.
As the industry was further continuing along the historical trend, in order to pattern a thin line with a thick brush, the Industry needed to create “litho magic” … really a lot of “litho magic”
Pushing the limit of ingenuity, chipmakers, exposure tool manufacturers, mask manufacturers and photo-resist manufacturers worked endlessly at developing new technologies, techniques and processes.
However…
How much further could we go?
The traditional techniques used in optical photolithography at 193 nm are running out of steam and are becoming prohibitively expensive. A new cost-effective, high-power EUV (extreme ultra-violet) light source is needed to enable high-volume manufacturing (HVM) of ever-shrinking semiconductor devices.
XTREME technologies GmbH and EUVA have jointly developed tin-based LDP (Laser-assisted Discharge Plasma) source systems for the integration of such sources into scanners.
Our goals are:
- to solve the wavelength gap — the growing gap between the printed critical dimensions (CD), driven by Moore’s Law, and the printing capability of lithographic exposure tools, constrained by the wavelength of the light source — and
- to enable the timely availability of EUV light sources for high-volume manufacturing.
