Date: 20/09/2011

Applied materials' new EUVL overcomes another major hurdle in 13.5nm lithography

Applied Materials, Inc has announced its new Applied Centura Tetra EUV Advanced Reticle Etch system. Applied says this new semiconductor IC manufacturing equipment overcomes a major hurdle in adopting EUV1 lithography in making semiconductor chips with nanometer-level accuracy.

"Our new Tetra EUV system expands the capabilities of Applied's industry-standard Tetra etch platform, which is used by the great majority of advanced mask makers today," said Ajay Kumar, vice president and general manager of the Mask and TSV2 Etch product division at Applied Materials. "Applied continues to invest in technologies that are important to our customers and will enable next-generation design nodes. We have already shipped multiple systems and we are working closely with virtually every leading mask maker to help the semiconductor industry accommodate this significant technology inflection."

EUVL photomasks are fundamentally different than conventional photomasks that selectively transmit 193nm wavelength light to project circuit patterns onto the wafer. At the 13.5nm wavelength used by EUVL, all photomask materials are opaque, so the mask contains complex multi-layer mirrors to reflect circuit patterns onto the wafer instead. The Tetra EUV system is designed to etch new materials and complex layer stacks to meet the stringent pattern accuracy, surface finish and defectivity specifications required to achieve high lithography yields when operating in this reflected mode.

For more information on Applied Materials' lithography-enabling solutions, visit www.appliedmaterials.com/advanced-litho.