July 13, 2011 — Nigel Farrar, VP of marketing and lithography technology at Cymer, Inc. (Nasdaq:CYMI), provides a status report on EUV lithography source technology, extensions to argon fluoride (ArF) lithography, and the laser crystallization process from the company’s TCZ display equipment product division. This laser process is used in OLED and LCD display manufacture. He discusses Cymer’s newest DUV source product as well: the OnPulse Plus data monitoring system that enables correlation of light source performance to wafer process performance.
With respect to the current EUV source technology (HVM I source) performance, Farrar said that the source has achieved <0/2% dose stability at 11W average exposure power (Fig. 1).
 |
| Figure 1. <0.2% dose stability at 11W average exposure power. SOURCE: Cymer |
The current dose stability target is <1.0%, 3s in >90% of fields. The second generation (HVM II) source architecture is complete and detailed design is in progress for ASML’s NXE 3300B scanners. The company has also demonstrated 200hr collector lifetime (Fig. 2) — which is more than double since last year, said Farrar.
 |
| Figure 2. 200hr collector lifetime demonstration at Cymer. Collector coating and vessel environment control improves lifetime. SOURCE: Cymer |
The company’s TCZ display equipment product division offers a laser crystallization tool that is used for both LCD and OLED displays (Fig. 3). In the podcast, Farrar notes that the company recently received multiple orders for its product.
 |
| Figure 3. Process uniformity is critical for high production yield for advanced displays. SOURCE: Cymer |
OnPulse Plus, paired with ArF and krypton fluoride (KrF) light sources, provides real-time light source monitoring to help improve fab productivity and wafer quality.
OnPulse Plus will display, in real-time, light source performance data in a new user interface. Future enhancements will improve the data resolution and correlation of light source performance indicators at the wafer and die level. The product, and subsequent developments for light source monitoring, result from Cymer’s recent acquisition of eDiag Solutions.
OnPulse Plus is now available for Cymer ArF and KrF light sources.
SEMICON West 2011 is held from July 12-14 at Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. Visit our SEMICON West center for news, products, and live blogs.
Cymer Inc. makes light sources used by chipmakers as the essential light source for DUV lithography systems. Visit www.cymer.com