Multiple E-Beam lithography project gains SOKUDO as member

(September 16, 2010)SOKUDO Co. Ltd., lithography coat/develop track, and process equipment joint venture company, will join the new industry/research multi-partner program IMAGINE (led by CEA-Leti) that is developing maskless lithography for IC manufacturing.

The three-year project is led by CEA-Leti, the leading French semiconductor research institute, and also includes semiconductor manufacturers TSMC and STMicroelectronics. It is evaluating a maskless lithography infrastructure and the use of MAPPER Lithography tools for high throughput. The multiple e-beam-lithography program covers a global approach to the technology, including tool assessment, patterning and process integration, data handling, prototyping and cost analysis.

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“E-beam has the potential to be a viable technology for many sub-22nm lithography process layers in logic/foundry semiconductor manufacturing,” said Tadahiro Suhara, SOKUDO president and CEO. “SOKUDO is taking a comprehensive approach to being prepared for coat/develop track process readiness in multiple sub-22nm lithography technologies, including immersion ArF lithography extensions, EUV and e-beam lithography. The CEA-Leti IMAGINE collaboration brings together a focused effort to enable production-worthy e-beam lithography, including multiple resist manufacturers key to sub-22nm process development.”

“We have been working with SOKUDO’s RF3 coat-and-develop track system for many years and the IMAGINE program will benefit from the strong knowledge and support of SOKUDO in developing the necessary processes to support maskless technology,” said Serge Tedesco, CEA-Leti program manager. “The experience of CEA-Leti in e-beam technology combined with SOKUDO’s coat-and-develop track expertise will help secure the necessary process infrastructure for multi e-beam lithography.”

MAPPER Lithography B.V., based in Delft, The Netherlands, makes maskless-lithography machines for the semiconductor industry. It is supporting the IMAGINE project with its massively parallel electron-beam platforms.

SOKUDO Co. Ltd. is a joint venture company owned by Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. and Applied Materials, Inc. SOKUDO was established for the development, manufacturing, sales and service of advanced coat/develop track equipment for semiconductor production. Additional information on SOKUDO can be found at www.sokudo.com.

CEA is a French research and technology public organization, with activities in four main areas: energy, information technologies, healthcare technologies and defence and security. Within CEA, the Laboratory for Electronics & Information Technology (CEA-Leti) works with companies to increase their competitiveness through technological innovation and transfers. CEA-Leti is focused on micro and nanotechnologies and their applications, from wireless devices and systems, to biology and healthcare or photonics. Nanoelectronics and microsystems (MEMS) are at the core of its activities. For more information, visit www.leti.fr

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