Germany Carl Zeiss, heart of Dutch ASML Lithography Equipment.

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WTAN

Junior Member
Registered Member
Hey Tidalwave
Good to see you are knowledgeable about Lithography.
Yes,i noticed that UPrecison has developed a Dry 65nm Dual stage Lithography machine.
I read that SMEE is using this equipment from UPrecision & adding immersion technology to it.
The new SMEE Immersion lithography machine when ready should have resolution of 45nm and with Multi patterning should have 20-30nm.

Whats holding back DUV Lithography in China? China's best Lithography Optics is the Cnepo Epolith A075 with resolution of 90nm. China having problems developing projection lens technology equivalent to Carl Zeiss.

There is a new Surface Plasmon Lithography machine from Inst of Optoelectronics Tech Chinese Academy of Sciences. Said to have resolution of 22nm and can do 10nm with multi patterning but the production scale is small. They are trying to improve the machine to allow mass production of Chips. What do you think of this machine?
 

Hendrik_2000

Lieutenant General
China is making progress of the lithography machine and reach 22nm level it won't belong before they reached 14 nm or even 10nm
Hu Song said that the lithography machine has a maximum linewidth resolution of 22 nm in a single exposure at a wavelength of 365 nm, which is equivalent to 1/17 wavelength. In principle, the project breaks through the resolution diffraction limit and establishes a new high-resolution, large-area nanolithography equipment research and development route. It has completely independent intellectual property rights
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China created the first independent new lithography machine, which can make 10nm chips in the future.


Hu Song, deputy director of the Institute of Optoelectronic Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, revealed that the newly accepted lithography machine has a processing capability between the deep ultraviolet and the extreme ultraviolet, and uses a 365 nm ultraviolet mercury lamp. Ten thousand yuan, and the price of the whole lithography machine is in the range of one million yuan to ten million yuan, "let many users overjoyed"...

On November 29th, Beijing time, the Institute of Optoelectronic Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced that the National Research and Development Equipment Development Project “Super Resolution Lithography Equipment Development” passed the acceptance test and became the world's first 22nm resolution lithography machine realized by ultraviolet light source.

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According to China Science and Technology Daily, Hu Song, deputy director of the Institute of Optoelectronic Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, revealed that the newly accepted lithography machine uses a 365 nm UV mercury lamp, a cost of only tens of thousands of dollars, while lithography The price of the whole machine is in the range of one million yuan to ten million yuan.

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Hu Song also said that the processing capability of the lithography machine developed by the Institute of Optoelectronic Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is between the deep ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet levels, "to make many users overjoyed."

A new route, perfect to avoid foreign manufacturers' patents

The lithography machine is the core role of the integrated circuit manufacturing industry. The lithography machine is equivalent to a projector, and the fine line pattern is projected on the photosensitive plate, and the light is a carving knife. But the level of fineness of the line has a limit - not less than half the wavelength of light. "The light is too fat, the door is too narrow, and the light can't pass." Yang Yong, a scientist involved in the research, told reporters.

At present, a lithography machine using a deep ultraviolet light source is the mainstream, and the imaging resolution limit is 34 nm, and the resolution is further improved by using multiple exposure techniques and the like, which is expensive.

The lithography giant ASML of the Netherlands monopolized the cutting-edge integrated circuit lithography machine with a processing limit of 7 nm. ASML's EUV lithography machine uses a 13.5 nm EUV source that costs up to $30 million and is also used under vacuum.

In 2003, the Institute of Optoelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences began to study a new method: metal and non-metal film bonding, there will be disordered electrons at the interface; light illuminates the metal film, causing these electrons to vibrate in an orderly manner, producing electromagnetic waves with much shorter wavelengths. For lithography. In this way, the "wide knife" becomes a "narrow knife."

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Hu Song said that the lithography machine has a maximum linewidth resolution of 22 nm in a single exposure at a wavelength of 365 nm, which is equivalent to 1/17 wavelength. In principle, the project breaks through the resolution diffraction limit and establishes a new high-resolution, large-area nanolithography equipment research and development route. It has completely independent intellectual property rights and is a revolution in metamaterials/supersurfaces, third-generation optical devices, and generalized chips. The leap-forward development of the sex field provides manufacturing tools. He specializes in processing a range of nano-functional devices, including large-diameter thin film mirrors, superconducting nanowire single photon detectors, Cherenkov radiation devices, biochemical sensor chips and ultra-surface imaging devices.

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According to the report, the Institute of Optoelectronic Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has mastered core patents such as super-resolution lithography lens, precision gap detection, nano-level positioning precision workpiece table, high aspect ratio etching and multiple graphic matching lithography processes. , leading the world in the field of super-resolution imaging lithography.

ASML equipment still dominates, and domestic efforts still need to work hard.

Prior to this, Shanghai Microelectronics, which was established in 2002, has taken the lead in developing a 90nm process lithography machine. Now the 22nm lithography machine developed by the Institute of Optoelectronic Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has passed the acceptance test, which can be said to achieve leapfrog progress. It is understood that the related devices for the manufacture of such super-resolution lithography equipment have been studied in many research institutes and universities such as the Eighth Research Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the University of Electronic Science and Technology, the West China Hospital of Sichuan University, and the Microsystems Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Applied in the task.

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Although Chinese research institutes have developed new lithography machines, lithography machines developed by ASML in the Netherlands are still the first choice for Chinese customers. At the end of May this year, according to Dutch media reports, the Chinese chip giant “Yangtze Storage” shipped a $72 million lithography machine ordered from ASML to Wuhan, Hubei.

Another Japanese media reported that China's other chip maker SMIC also ordered a $120 million lithography machine from ASML, which is expected to be delivered in 2019.

Following ZTE and Fujian Jinhua, it is reported that the United States is considering sanctioning China's monitoring equipment giant Hikvision and cutting off chip supply. This will prompt China to accelerate the pace of applying domestic equipment.
 

manqiangrexue

Brigadier
On November 29th, Beijing time, the Institute of Optoelectronic Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced that the National Research and Development Equipment Development Project “Super Resolution Lithography Equipment Development” passed the acceptance test and became the world's first 22nm resolution lithography machine realized by ultraviolet light source.

Although Chinese research institutes have developed new lithography machines, lithography machines developed by ASML in the Netherlands are still the first choice for Chinese customers. At the end of May this year, according to Dutch media reports, the Chinese chip giant “Yangtze Storage” shipped a $72 million lithography machine ordered from ASML to Wuhan, Hubei.

Another Japanese media reported that China's other chip maker SMIC also ordered a $120 million lithography machine from ASML, which is expected to be delivered in 2019.

Following ZTE and Fujian Jinhua, it is reported that the United States is considering sanctioning China's monitoring equipment giant Hikvision and cutting off chip supply.
There is no date in the article but I think this was published shortly after 11/29/2018, which is before the US sanctioned Hikvision October of 2019. It'd be interesting to see where they are now with it.
 

Hendrik_2000

Lieutenant General
There is no date in the article but I think this was published shortly after 11/29/2018, which is before the US sanctioned Hikvision October of 2019. It'd be interesting to see where they are now with it.

Correct it is old news but still important and I am sure they make progress since then It is experimental machine but has been deployed in small number in research institute
 

vultee

Just Hatched
Registered Member
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Historically, photolithography has used ultraviolet light from
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using
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, sometimes in combination with
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such as
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. These lamps produce light across a broad spectrum with several strong peaks in the ultraviolet range. This spectrum is filtered to select a single
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. From the early 1960s through the mid-1980s, Hg lamps had been used in lithography for their spectral lines at 436 nm ("g-line"), 405 nm ("h-line") and 365 nm ("i-line"). However, with the semiconductor industry's need for both higher resolution (to produce denser and faster chips) and higher throughput (for lower costs), the lamp-based lithography tools were no longer able to meet the industry's high-end requirements.

This challenge was overcome when in a pioneering development in 1982,
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lithography was proposed and demonstrated at I.B.M. by Kanti Jain, and now excimer laser lithography machines (steppers and scanners) are the primary tools used worldwide in microelectronics production. With the rapid advances made in tool technology in the last two decades, it is the semiconductor industry view that excimer laser lithography has been a crucial factor in the continued advance of Moore's Law, enabling minimum features sizes in chip manufacturing to shrink from 800 nanometers in 1990 to 7 nanometers in 2018. From an even broader scientific and technological perspective, in the 50-year history of the laser since its first demonstration in 1960, the invention and development of excimer laser lithography has been recognized as a major milestone.

The commonly used deep ultraviolet
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in lithography systems are the
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laser at 248 nm wavelength and the
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at 193 nm wavelength. The primary manufacturers of excimer laser light sources in the 1980s were Lambda Physik (now part of Coherent, Inc.) and Lumonics. Since the mid-1990s
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has become the dominant supplier of excimer laser sources to the lithography equipment manufacturers, with
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as their closest rival.

So the light source, at least, seems to be several generations old. They seem to have more advanced methods other than the light source to compensate for that but it still seems to be way behind the current generation machines which use excimer lasers. Excimer lasers were originally developed in the 1970s and have been in use at least since the 1990s.

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Lambda Physik originally developed excimer lasers based on gases using KrF (Krypton Fluoride), and ArF (Argon Fluoride). These are higher power and can generate lower wavelength light than mercury (Hg) lamps so they can produce finer features. This isn't even EUV technology, it's what has been used over more than two decades by now. Later Lambda Physik (a German company) got acquired by Coherent (a US company). So now I think only Gigaphoton which is Japanese is the only remaining non-US vendor for advanced light sources for photolitography.

There has been talk for decades of replacing excimer lasers with solid state light sources but it has never worked at high power levels, which is what you need to increase light exposure levels and thus decrease the time it takes to do each lithographic step.
 

WTAN

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So the light source, at least, seems to be several generations old. They seem to have more advanced methods other than the light source to compensate for that but it still seems to be way behind the current generation machines which use excimer lasers. Excimer lasers were originally developed in the 1970s and have been in use at least since the 1990s.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


Lambda Physik originally developed excimer lasers based on gases using KrF (Krypton Fluoride), and ArF (Argon Fluoride). These are higher power and can generate lower wavelength light than mercury (Hg) lamps so they can produce finer features. This isn't even EUV technology, it's what has been used over more than two decades by now. Later Lambda Physik (a German company) got acquired by Coherent (a US company). So now I think only Gigaphoton which is Japanese is the only remaining non-US vendor for advanced light sources for photolitography.

There has been talk for decades of replacing excimer lasers with solid state light sources but it has never worked at high power levels, which is what you need to increase light exposure levels and thus decrease the time it takes to do each lithographic step.
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So the light source, at least, seems to be several generations old. They seem to have more advanced methods other than the light source to compensate for that but it still seems to be way behind the current generation machines which use excimer lasers. Excimer lasers were originally developed in the 1970s and have been in use at least since the 1990s.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


Lambda Physik originally developed excimer lasers based on gases using KrF (Krypton Fluoride), and ArF (Argon Fluoride). These are higher power and can generate lower wavelength light than mercury (Hg) lamps so they can produce finer features. This isn't even EUV technology, it's what has been used over more than two decades by now. Later Lambda Physik (a German company) got acquired by Coherent (a US company). So now I think only Gigaphoton which is Japanese is the only remaining non-US vendor for advanced light sources for photolitography.

There has been talk for decades of replacing excimer lasers with solid state light sources but it has never worked at high power levels, which is what you need to increase light exposure levels and thus decrease the time it takes to do each lithographic step.
This new Lithography from CAS is a Surface Plasmon
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So the light source, at least, seems to be several generations old. They seem to have more advanced methods other than the light source to compensate for that but it still seems to be way behind the current generation machines which use excimer lasers. Excimer lasers were originally developed in the 1970s and have been in use at least since the 1990s.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


Lambda Physik originally developed excimer lasers based on gases using KrF (Krypton Fluoride), and ArF (Argon Fluoride). These are higher power and can generate lower wavelength light than mercury (Hg) lamps so they can produce finer features. This isn't even EUV technology, it's what has been used over more than two decades by now. Later Lambda Physik (a German company) got acquired by Coherent (a US company). So now I think only Gigaphoton which is Japanese is the only remaining non-US vendor for advanced light sources for photolitography.

There has been talk for decades of replacing excimer lasers with solid state light sources but it has never worked at high power levels, which is what you need to increase light exposure levels and thus decrease the time it takes to do each lithographic step.
This new Lithography Machine from CAS is a Surface Plasmon Lithography Machine & is supposedly a next generation device. It makes use of Surface Plasmon Polaritons in the process. It is not a traditional Optical Lithography Machine.
Last i heard it has partnered up with a Manufacturing Company to build a machine that can do mass production as its production scale is currently low.
It has benefits of fairly low cost & has its own independent IP.
Hopefully this will be used by local Fabs.
 

Skywatcher

Captain
Correct it is old news but still important and I am sure they make progress since then It is experimental machine but has been deployed in small number in research institute
Wonder if the CAS lithography machine switched to a light source with a shorter wavelength (like 180nm), if that would improve the resolution?
 

tidalwave

Senior Member
Registered Member
Hey Tidalwave
Good to see you are knowledgeable about Lithography.
Yes,i noticed that UPrecison has developed a Dry 65nm Dual stage Lithography machine.
I read that SMEE is using this equipment from UPrecision & adding immersion technology to it.
The new SMEE Immersion lithography machine when ready should have resolution of 45nm and with Multi patterning should have 20-30nm.

Whats holding back DUV Lithography in China? China's best Lithography Optics is the Cnepo Epolith A075 with resolution of 90nm. China having problems developing projection lens technology equivalent to Carl Zeiss.

There is a new Electron Beam Lithography machine from Inst of Optoelectronics Tech Chinese Academy of Sciences. Said to have resolution of 22nm and can do 10nm with multi patterning but the production scale is small. They are trying to improve the machine to allow mass production of Chips. What do you think of this machine?
U precision strong point is its wafer stepper precision motion control.

If SMEE using its tech and for its latest product that means SMEE has developed better condenser and projection optical lens for 45nm.

The best DUV equipment ASML has is based ArF excimer laser outputting 193nm. I am not sure what's SMEE ArF laser wavelength has..
The reason they stop at 193 nm is light below that is starting to be absorbed by the lens.

It's a combo of laser and projection Lens that comprised the hurdle. Wait and see what SMEE got to offer new.

Electron beam is for making masks.
Their output not fast enough for manufacturing wafers. It has to be optical.
 
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tidalwave

Senior Member
Registered Member
This new Lithography from CAS is a Surface Plasmon

This new Lithography Machine from CAS is a Surface Plasmon Lithography Machine & is supposedly a next generation device. It makes use of Surface Plasmon Polaritons in the process. It is not a traditional Optical Lithography Machine.
Last i heard it has partnered up with a Manufacturing Company to build a machine that can do mass production as its production scale is currently low.
It has benefits of fairly low cost & has its own independent IP.
Hopefully this will be used by local Fabs.
Sounds way too exotic too be practical.
 
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