A new type of extreme ultraviolet ( EUV) lithography equipment, developed by the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology ( OIST ), could significantly lower the cost of producing semiconductors under 7 nm and smaller and change the supply chain for chip manufacturing.
According to reports, the EUV equipment’s visual system has been significantly simplified while energy consumption has been significantly reduced, opening the door to many less expensive superior chip-making units.
If so, it could mark the end of ASML’s stranglehold on EUV printing, which would have serious implications for semiconductor companies, investors and governments.
Remember that the sales of EUV printing equipment to China is prohibited by US sanctions, making the 3nm node already in manufacturing at Taiwan’s TSMC and the 2nm and smaller nodes still under development significantly more challenging and expensive.
Highly cheap and resource-intensive EUV printing equipment is used to create AI processors, low-power semiconductor devices used in smartphones, and the most recent high-density memory chips.
The technology, according to OIST Professor Tsumoru Shintake, is a breakthrough technology that almost totally addresses these issues.
The lens and lenses are arranged in a straight line in conventional optical systems like cams, telescopes, and older printing tools, according to OIST: This design enables higher visual functionality with minimum abnormalities, resulting in high-quality pictures.
Nevertheless, this is not possible with really short-wave EUV lighting, which is absorbed by most supplies and must go through clear lenses. For this reason, in EUV printing techniques, the lighting is directed using crescent-shaped mirrors that reflect the waves in an irregular zigzag style.
According to OIST, this approach” sacrifices significant visual properties and lowers the system’s overall achievement.”
Professor Shintake used just four reflections, not ten, to align two axis-symmetric reflections in a straight line, to solve this issue.
Only about 1 % of the energy from the light source is delivered to the wafer when it is thrown off ten mirrors, compared to more than 10 % when used with just four mirrors, because highly absorbent EUV light weakens by 40 % with each reflection.
With just one-tenth the power, a smaller EUV lighting source can be used.
At the Semicon West industry exhibition in San Francisco over the course of more than 20 years, Phil Ware, an American expert employed by Canon, claimed that the issue with EUV printing was that its energy consumption was calculated using” HDEs – Hoover Dam Versions.”
If Professor Shintake’s style works as intended, this issue may ultimately be solved. ” Like the egg of Columbus, ]it ] may seem impossible at first glance, but once solved, it becomes very simple”, Shintake said about the problem of EUV power consumption.
OIST’s architecture, which resembles an astronomical telescope, consists only of two reflective mirrors and transfers the loop pattern from the photomask to the silicon wafer.
Given that regular projectors typically require at least six introspective mirrors, Shintake claims that” this configuration is unbelievably simple.” This was made possible by reexamining the magnification ‘ artifact adjustment idea thoroughly.
Additionally,” the achievement has been independently verified using visual modeling software and is unquestionably enough for the production of sophisticated semiconductors.”
OIST has filed a patent application for the technology, which it initial plans to illustrate with a half-scale design. In 2026, it will be used to develop a functional EUV lithography system in collaboration with one or more Chinese business partners after the concept has been demonstrated.
If everything goes according to plan, Japan may have a significant improvement in its international standing in the highly politicized semiconductor sector.
Nikon, which discontinued EUV printing about 15 years ago due to technical difficulties and high prices, is likely to be the mate. Nikon also manufactures advanced deep violet ( DUV) lithography techniques.
Canon might be a companion as well, but the company is busy promoting the entirely different technology known as circuit pattern mold lithography, which uses circuit pattern molds rather than optical methods.
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