INDUSTRY NEWS

Lithography start-up signs pact to develop postoptical steppers

A start-up has teamed up with three chipmakers to develop extreme ultraviolet technology for postoptical lithography tools. The nonexclusive agreement calls for the newly formed United States Advanced Lithography (USAL) to work with Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV), a company established by Intel, Motorola, and AMD to commercialize extreme ultraviolet lithography. USAL's goal is to help U.S.-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment retain their global competitive edge by producing extreme ultraviolet systems in the United States. The manager of USAL is Arthur Zafiropoulo, the chairman, CEO, and president of Ultratech Stepper in San Jose.

The partnership is the second such alliance for EUV. USAL will need approximately $50 million to develop a prototype tool. The new company's charter calls for it to manufacture a sufficient number of systems for EUV's three members and for the U.S. market. Zafiropoulo says extreme ultraviolet steppers could sell for as much as $15 million to $20 million. He cites experts who say the technology is "a main contender in the postoptical lithography era." Its boosters assert that extreme ultraviolet technology will enable production of semiconductors with linewidths of 0.1 µm and smaller.

EUV's chipmaking partners already have been working on the technology through a cooperative research and development agreement with the Virtual National Laboratory. The laboratory is a cooperative venture among Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national laboratories. A demonstration extreme ultraviolet tool will be built at Sandia over the next two years.

MicroHome | Search | Current Issue | MicroArchives
Buyers Guide | Media Kit