X-ray: Singapore synchrotron, Mitsubishi steppers

08/01/1997

X-ray: Singapore synchrotron, Mitsubishi steppers

X-ray lithography has received two recent boosts, with disclosure of a decision to install a synchrotron beam line in a Singapore research program, and Mitsubishi reportedly deciding to install x-ray steppers at a new 256-Mbit DRAM fab.

The Singapore program is funded by the city-state`s government along with the National University of Singapore (NUS), and several chipmakers including Chartered Semiconductor. The program has placed an order for an Oxford Instruments HELIOS-2 system, capable of driving 20 exposure stations, and expects to have 10 stations devoted to academic research and 10 to industrial work, said sources familiar with the plan. The synchrotrons sell for about $25 million.

Oxford, based in the UK, said "shipment will occur in 1998 at a modest contribution to profits." The previous-generation HELIOS-1 synchrotron is in use at IBM`s East Fishkill, NY, research facility; HELIOS-2 occupies about half the footprint of its predecessor.

No word was available on which steppers would be installed along with the synchrotron, though Suss Advanced Lithography must be seen as a frontrunner as they have the only formally announced commercial products. A SAL spokeswoman declined to comment on the situation except to say, "They will need steppers."

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, lithography vendor Canon is engaged in a joint development program with Mitsubishi, which plans to install x-ray steppers at its Kochi Prefecture DRAM fab. Construction of that facility will begin in the current fiscal year, with operations slated to commence by 2000. Last December, Mitsubishi researcher Kiyoshi Demizu said during a presentation that x-ray is "very likely to be used" for second- and third-generation shrinks of Mitsubishi`s 256-Mbit design. - P.N.D.