November 16, 2011 – PRNewswire — Nanopatterning company Molecular Imprints Inc. will build a 450mm-capable lithography system for an undisclosed leading IC manufacturer.
Molecular Imprints will build the 450mm wafer lithography tool on its proprietary Jet and Flash Imprint Lithography (J-FIL) technology, working with high-quality, commercially available imprint masks. The purchase includes a multi-year wafer patterning services contract and the option for additional 450mm nanoimprint systems.
Molecular Imprints will also provide a lithography system and subsequent wafer services to the Global 450mm Consortium (G450c) Initiative, beginning H2 2012. The 5-year wafer services agreement calls for thousands of 450mm fully patterned wafers to be delivered to the G450C consortium with an option to buy additional J-FIL imprint systems as required.
The semiconductor equipment and manufacturer supply chain’s transition to 450mm wafer size, as well as smaller device nodes, requires product and process optimization, said Mark Melliar-Smith, president and CEO of Molecular Imprints, discussing the order.
He noted that extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography’s timeline for implementation is "elusive," and standard optical 193i lithography is used in "complex multiple patterning schemes" to meet today’s semiconductor design demands. J-FIL has demonstrated 24nm patterning with <2nm line edge roughness (LER, at 3 sigma) and 1.2nm critical dimension uniformity (CDU, at 3 sigma) with extensibility beyond sub-18nm using a simple single patterning step process. The J-FIL process does not require x-ray light sources, complex optical lenses and mirrors, or new ultrasensitive photoresists.
Molecular Imprints, Inc. (MII) makes high-resolution, low cost-of-ownership nanopatterning systems and solutions in the semiconductor and hard disk drive (HDD) industries. For more information, visit www.molecularimprints.com.