Lithography is the process of producing patterns on the semiconductor crystals for using it as integrated circuits. Lithography is probably one of the most complex and important processes in the chip manufacturing process. ASML and Intel lithography systems are one of the best lithography systems in the world. There are various techniques of lithography such as photolithography, electron beam lithography, X-ray and extreme UV lithography, focused ion beam and neutral atomic beam lithography, soft lithography, colloidal lithography, nanoimprint lithography, scanning probe lithography, atomic force microscope nanolithography, and others. Among these EUV or extreme UV lithography is probably the most complex one.
What is EUV Lithography?
EUV lithography uses ultraviolet rays of the extremely short wavelength of 13.5 nm. It allows exposure of fine circuit patterns with a half-pitch below 20 nm that cannot be exposed by the conventional optical lithography. Using EUV lithography is extremely complex as it requires a powerful euv beamer which can generate a 13.5 nm wavelength. Due to the lack of a powerful power source, euv lithography is neither economical, nor feasible. According to some semiconductor industry reports, asml euv scanners are making progress with the power source.
Why is EUV Lithography so complex?
As mentioned above, due to lack of a superior power source, optical wafers and scanners, using euv lithography is not possible yet. Despite all this the semiconductor industry has backed the euv lithography for so long. The reason behind that is for years euv lithography has been a promising technology. It was believed that it would enable advanced chip scaling. But even after years of R&D, and spending billions of dollars, no conclusive result was achieved. Two chipmakers, Intel and Samsung, have put EUV on their roadmaps at 7nm. Intek was planning to develop its 7nm chips using EUV by 2019, but the project was postponed to 2021. This is because of the lack of EUV devices, which are necessary to run the EUV lithography process.
SUMMARY:
EUV lithography in its full potential is capable of bringing radical innovation in the field of technology. The road is not an easy one to walk, but many big companies are an inch away from a major breakthrough. The current EUV models are not economical, hence further innovation is needed if the semiconductor industry wants to use euv lithography in mass production. One thing is very clear that the company which will achieve the breakthrough first, will have an competitive advantage in the semiconductor industry.
Comments