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 1. Tech Industry


JAPANESE SCIENTISTS DEVELOP SIMPLIFIED EUV SCANNER THAT CAN MAKE PRODUCTION OF
CHIPS CONSIDERABLY CHEAPER

News
By Anton Shilov
published yesterday

OIST's simplified EUV litho system uses two mirrors instead of six.

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Comments (3)

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(Image credit: ASML)


Professor Tsumoru Shintake of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
(OIST) has proposed an all-new and greatly simplified EUV lithography tool that
is cheaper than those developed and made by ASML. If the device hits mass
production, it could reshape the chipmaking equipment industry, if not the whole
semiconductor industry.



The new system uses only two mirrors in its optical projection setup, a
significant departure from the conventional six-mirror configuration. The
challenge of such an optical system is that it involves aligning these mirrors
in a straight line, which ensures that the system maintains high optical
performance without the usual distortions associated with EUV light. The new
optical path allows more than 10% of the initial EUV energy to reach the wafer,
compared to about 1% in standard setups, an improvement which is a major
breakthrough.  



(Image credit: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology)

Professor Shintake's team solved two major challenges in EUV lithography:
preventing optical aberrations and ensuring efficient light transfer. OIST's
'dual-line field' method illuminates the photomask without interfering with the
optical path, which minimizes distortions and enhances image precision on the
silicon wafer.




One of the key advantages of this minimalist design is that it enhances
reliability and reduces maintenance complexities. Another advantage of this EUV
lithography tool design is a drastic reduction of its power consumption. Thanks
to the optimized optical path, the system operates with an EUV light source of
just 20W, leading to a total power consumption of less than 100kW. In contrast,
traditional EUV lithography systems often require over 1MW of power. Because of
lower power consumption, the new litho system does not require a sophisticated
and expensive cooling system.

LATEST VIDEOS FROM tomshardwareTom's Hardware




(Image credit: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology)

The performance of this new system has been rigorously verified using optical
simulation software, confirming its capability for producing advanced
semiconductors. The technology's potential has led to a patent filing by OIST,
indicating readiness for commercial deployment.




OIST is committed to advancing its EUV tool design further, aiming to bring it
to practical application. The institute sees this innovation as a vital step
toward solving global challenges, such as the costs of chip production and power
consumption of semiconductor fabs, which affect the environment.

The economic implications of this invention are promising. The global EUV
lithography market is expected to grow from $8.9 billion in 2024 to $17.4
billion by 2030. With this simplified design of EUV tools, the industry could
adopt more EUV systems in the coming years. However, it is unclear how close
OIST is to commercialization of its tool.


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Anton Shilov
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Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of
decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from
modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.




More about tech industry

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TOPICS
EUV
ASML

See all comments (3)


3 Comments Comment from the forums
 * edzieba
   Reading the paper, this comes with a few heavy caveats:
   - only 0.2 NA, with a 0.3 NA version being proposed but requires a curved
   surface photomask to be fabricated (not a trivial task). High-NA EUV is 0.5
   NA, and 'standard' EUV is 0.33 NA.
   - 10m x 26mm field size. Even the 'small' field of TSMV's high-NA EUV
   machines is 16.5x26, and 'standard' EUV is 33x26mm.
   - all-aspheric optics
   - has not been tested in a physical system
   
   So the technique is both lower resolution than both standard and high-NA EUV,
   a much smaller reticule size than even high-NA EUV, and may require custom 2D
   curved masks and pellicles requiring new fabrication techniques compared to
   existing masks and pellicles (as if EUV pellicles weren't already enough of
   an issue).. It also requires fabrication of perforated aspheric Bragg
   mirrors, which is nontrivial.
   Reply
 * dehjomz
   So should ASML be worried as we enter the Angstrom era, or is this tech not
   for 18A, 14A and below, but rather, 3nm, 4nm ?
   Reply
 * Rinko_x_7
   > dehjomz said:
   > So should ASML be worried as we enter the Angstrom era, or is this tech not
   > for 18A, 14A and below, but rather, 3nm, 4nm ?
   
   Well, using the Rayleigh criterion equation, CD = k1 * λ / NA, even if they
   do achieve a k1 factor of 0.25 (which is the physical limit) and an EUV
   wavelength of 13.5nm, they would achieve a critical dimension of 16.875nm if
   they achieve 0.2NA and 11.25nm if they achieve 0.3NA.
   Reply
 * View All 3 Comments

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