UAlbany EUV Tool Produces Images

Less than six months after taking delivery of the first full-field, extreme-ultraviolet alpha demo tool (EUV ADT), the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany (UAlbany) has produced the first exposed images while using it in a development environment.

The announcement was made at a presentation at the SPIE Advanced Lithography 2007 conference, held recently in San Jose, Calif.

The $65 million EUV ADT, developed by Netherlands-based ASML Holding NV, a supplier of advanced lithography tools, will be essential in development of the infrastructure for EUV lithography and is considered the most likely technology for insertion into manufacturing as early as the 32-nm computer chip device node, based on cost-effectiveness and ability to extend to future nodes, according to ASML.

The production of images from the EUV ADT supports the R&D programs of the International Venture for Nanolithography (INVENT), a global industry-university consortium for R&D, education and technology deployment for nanolithography applications. INVENT was created with assistance from the New York State Assembly and includes computer-chip manufacturers Advanced Micro Devices, IBM, Micron Technology and Qimonda. Other global corporate partners of CNSE, including SONY and Toshiba, also participate in the CNSE EUV programs.

EUV-ADT tool shows 32-nm half pitch (HP) and contact hole (CH) printing. Above, top to bottom: 3-nm HP, focus depth >160 nm; 32-nm HP; 32-nm dense CH. Resist: 100-nm MET-2D. NA=0.25, =0.5 (conventional illumination) imaging POB (16% flare). (Images courtesy of UAlbany)

ASML has an R&D center at the New York State Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology, at CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex, the International Multiphase Partnership for Lithography Science and Engineering. The ASML R&D Center is its only 300-mm-wafer R&D facility outside of its headquarters in the Netherlands.

For more information, visit: cnse.albany.edu