IMEC unites more than 30 major players in worldwide 193 nm immersion lithography consortium

Only a few months after IMEC launched its 193 nm immersion lithography program, a worldwide consortium of more than 30 prominent players including IC manufacturers, tool suppliers, resist and BARC suppliers, mask shops and software suppliers are now members of the IMEC Industrial Affiliation Program (IIAP). IMEC’s sub-45 nm CMOS core partners have already committed to the program. Now two other leading IC manufacturers, NEC EL and Sony Corporation, have joined the IIAP. Tool suppliers include ASML, Carl Zeiss, Cymer, Donaldson, Extraction Systems, KLA-Tencor, Lam Research and TEL. Resist and BARC suppliers comprise Arch, AZ, JSR, Shin-Etsu, TOK, Brewer Science and Nissan Chemicals. The mask shops, DNP, Photronics and Toppan, have also joined the program. Software suppliers include ASML MaskTools, KLA-Tencor Finle, Mentor Graphics, Sigma-C and Synopsys.

IMEC’s strategic partnership with ASML allows IMEC’s partners to do research on the TWINSCAN XT:1250i, which has the highest NA (0.85) for an immersion tool available in the world. The tool will soon be installed in IMEC’s new 300 mm research facility and will become fully operational during January 2005. Meanwhile, exposures have been done on the XT:1250i system at ASML premises. 70 nm dense lines have been printed with 6% attenuated phase-shift mask. A depth-of-focus of 0.7µm, which is 1.7 times larger than obtained with dry lithography on the AT:1250, has been achieved.

“The very nature of research and development is evolving to become more communal. Consortia, such as the IMEC Industrial Affiliation Program, are the way forward. Collaborative efforts yield better, more marketable results. This is good for the technology and good for the industry. ASML is pleased to see one of its early TWINSCAN XT:1250i systems in the elite company of IMEC and its IIAP,” said Martin van den Brink, executive vice president, Marketing & Technology, ASML. “This cooperation will speed the transition from dry to wet lithography in production environments.”

“Our strategic partnership with ASML has allowed us to install, for each lithography generation, a first-of-a-kind prototype full-field stepper or scanner from ASML,” said Luc Van den hove, IMEC vice president, Silicon Process and Device Technology. “These tools form the high-performance centerpieces for our programs. The combination of world class tools, our longstanding expertise in lithography, and our ability to bring together the leading players in this field are the success factors of our lithography programs. We are proud that we have succeeded in structuring the world’s largest consortium on 193 nm immersion lithography. We are convinced that together we will be able to develop the necessary technologies to bring immersion in production for the 65 nm half-pitch node by 2007.”