The Fine Print
Aaron Hand brings analysis and insight into the world of semiconductor lithography, looking at the stories behind the developments that shape this industry.
Lithography for 22 nm Canceled
…The panel discussion, that is. Maybe it’s my warped sense of humor, but when the Tuesday night panel of lithography for 22 nm was canceled, the sign indicating as such struck me as funny. So much of the conversation at SPIE Advanced Lithography last week was focused on how difficult it was going to be to get to the 22 nm node, given that EUV lithography will no longer be the ...... Read More
Comments (1)Innovating Through the Quagmire
I rushed into the plenaries this morning at 2 minutes to 8, sure that I’d be stuck standing with my notepad until my eyes could adjust and I could squeeze into an open seat. Instead, I found perhaps 40 of the hundreds of chairs occupied, with some others milling about, getting caught up after months of restricted travel. I was able to take my pick of seats and, when I chose a seat on ...... Read More
Comments (0)Advanced Lithography 2009: Missing in Action
I know, I’ve been AWOL from this space for months and months, but here’s a little blip on your radar screen as I come out of the fox hole in preparation for SPIE. Speaking of which, what exactly is that Advanced Lithography exhibit going to look like this year? I had heard some time ago that ASML had pulled out of the exhibit, leaving just a banner in its wake. And now ...... Read More
Comments (0)Making All Lithography Look Impossible
For the SEMICON West Daily News, I reported on the Tuesday afternoon Device Scaling TechXPOT, which featured presentations and panel discussion on lithography options at 22 nm. Although I wanted to include comments from moderator Lars Liebmann, I had to cut back to make the story fit on one page (all the news that fits, right?). Granted, lithographers and their suppliers have a mighty diffi ...... Read More
Comments (4)Zeiss and Schott Keep On Keeping On
Carl Zeiss SMT (Oberkochen, Germany) recently designated Schott Lithotec (Jena, Germany) as its latest Supply Chain Partner. The official press release talked about what the new status meant: “expanding our long-term relationship and business”, “we will jointly fine tune our technologies”, and strengthening the “historic business relation”. But, par ...... Read More
Comments (2)Who's Minding the Litho Store in Albany?
Molecular Imprints Inc. (Austin, Texas) put out a press release today announcing the appointment ofBen Eynon as the company’s vice president of marketing and business development for semiconductors. No wonder Sematech folks were being so cagey in May when I asked when Eynon would be taking over from Mike Lercel as lithography director. Eynon was supposed to be taking over in May, but Lercel ...... Read More
Comments (1)EUV Lithography Workshop: A Guest Perspective
In my June 11 Lithography Report, I asked readers for feedback on theInternational Workshop on EUV Lithography, a new conference organized by Vivek Bakshi and EUV Litho Inc., which took place last week in Maui. I got such a detailed and informative response from one reader that I wanted to share it with you here. So this latest installment is a guest post from Kenneth Goldberg, a physicist ...... Read More
Comments (2)Maskless E-Beam: Worth Another Look?
It’s interesting to hear the same person who made such a push for immersion now making a similar case for electron-beam direct-write (EBDW) lithography. Given his success with immersion, not to mention his considerable experience in the industry, it’s hard not to listen to what TSMC’s Burn Lin now has to say about maskless technologies, especially when he says himself that he ...... Read More
Comments (5)High-Index Immersion Lands With a Thud
At Sematech’s Litho Forum this week in Bolton Landing, N.Y., the proponents of various next-generation technologies are duking it out to demonstrate worthiness as water immersion successors. The session on high-index immersion lithography just wrapped up, and it ended with a solid thud. EUV and double patterning sessions were presented in full yesterday, but high-index was split betw ...... Read More
Comments (1)EUV at 16? Intel Still Pushing
When Intel speaks, people are generally interested. And when the überchipmaker says it won’t be using EUV lithography to introduce 22 nm technology into its chips, people take notice. And so, like many others, I was quick to click on yesterday’s headline, “Intel: ‘EUV Facts Don’t Add Up’ for 22 nm in 2011.” It’s somewhat early still, but ...... Read More
Comments (7)450 mm Wafers: Contamination and Litho Focus
Although plenty of people will tell you that the switch from 300 to 450 mm wafers is going to have to happen at some point, and most likely around the 2012 timeframe, the conversation is far from over. I understand the reluctance to embrace this change from a tool manufacturer’s point of view, and probably even more so from a wafer supplier’s point of view, but I hadn’t though ...... Read More
Comments (1)Will Nanoimprint Actually Get Its Day in the Sun?
The Molecular Imprints folks seem to have very bright outlooks on their future lately – they speak in a way that is more upbeat than I’ve heard them in the past, like they’re finally really getting somewhere in the semiconductor industry. “The semiconductor industry is beginning, I think, to pick up a lot of interest,” CEO Mark Melliar-Smith beamed. “If yo ...... Read More
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