June 1, 2007 – Japan’s government-affiliated New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) says it has drawn circuit patterns with just 26nm linewidths (isolated and dense lines), which would vault Japan back among the frontrunners for achieving chip manufacturing at the 32nm node using EUV, according to local news reports.
NEDO and SELETE said they used a small-field exposure tool (SFET) EUV system from Canon to transfer the 26nm-linewidth pattern to a 0.5mm area on a silicon substrate. An assembly of optics with high-performance mirrors with improved grinding precision, and alignment of stages with a reflective mask instead of transparent masks, got around the problem of the process absorbing and diminishing the EUV light, note the Nikkei Business Daily and Tech On! publication.
“Japan has completely made up for the initial lag in the EUV exposure technology development and has lined up with the US and European competitors,” according to Yasuhiro Horiike, project leader for Japan’s Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography System Development Association (EUVA), quoted by Tech-On!. EUVA was formed in 2002 to help commercialize EUV technology.
Tech On! reports that Selete will install Nikon’s full-field EUV exposure device (26x33mm exposure) in fiscal FY07 with evaluations carrying through the year, and expectations are high based on the SFET’s performance.
(Image from NEDO)