Vendors to Play Catch-Up in EUV Source Race
By Mark LaPedus, SemiMD senior editor
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is late to the market.
The critical power sources and other technologies remain behind schedule. And EUV throughput is far below what is needed in high-volume production fabs.
One source vendor, Cymer Inc., acknowledged it is behind its previous schedule for the development of sources for EUV lithography, but the company vows it will accelerate its efforts in the arena.
During a conference call to discuss its third quarter results on Thursday (Oct. 20), Bob Akins, Cymer’s chief executive officer, said the company’s EUV source developments are “tracking behind our power schedule.”
“This is very challenging technology,” Akins said, but “we are getting a handle” on the power source technology.
Cymer is one of three major players in the EUV source arena. The other players are XTREME Technologies and Gigaphoton.
The main EUV lithography scanner provider is ASML Holding NV. ASML recently confirmed the source technology is taking longer than previously expected. ASML’s current EUV tool is on track to have an overall throughput from current single digit levels to mid-teens in terms of wafers per hour by the fourth quarter of 2011. That’s far below the company’s stated goal of 60 wafers per hour by year’s end.
“The industry needs EUV at 14nm and below to stay on Moore’s Law, but that throughput issues related to the light source remains the #1 issue today,” said C.J. Muse, an analyst with Barclays Capital, in a report. Muse issued the report at this week’s International Symposium on EUV Lithography in Miami.
“Chipmakers are growing uneasy about the 14nm node as EUV will be necessary to stay on Moore’s Law,” Muse said. “With throughput on EUV still in the low teens, well below promised 60+/wph and then 100+/wph, there was clear frustration on part of participants with the roadmap slippage of EUV light source throughput. As one participant highlighted, the ‘roadmap slip for EUV sources must stop.’ “
EUV sources are based on two basic technologies: laser-produced plasma (LPP) and discharge-produced plasma (DPP). “In an LPP source, the plasma is generated by a focused laser pulse hitting an appropriate target material. The target (mass-limited droplets emitted at a very high frequency) is designed to minimize the generation of debris,’’ according to XREME. “In a DPP source, on the other hand, the plasma is generated within an electrode system by an electrical discharge in the gas phase (Xenon).”
There is a third technology, dubbed laser-assisted discharge plasma (LDP), which is a hybrid technology.
Cymer’s technology is based on LPP technology. So far, Cymer of San Diego has shipped four EUV light sources to Intel, Samsung, Toshiba, and Hynix, with a fifth that is being installed at TSMC, according to Muse.
The technical challenges include the droplet generator and the collector. “Today, the tool is showing a power of 8 watts and 50 percent availability in the field (equivalent to uptime), which is analogous to overall 11/wph throughput,” Muse said.
Cymer’s next upgrade, dubbed “Upgrade 1,” will result in increasing “exposure power to 20 watts, less than 0.5 percent dose stability and 90 percent duty cycle by December 2011,” he said. “Then, ‘Upgrade 2A’ is expected to drive to 50 watts exposure power at continuing mode using a different laser architecture by March 2012.”
“Upgrade 2B” should enable Cymer to see 100 watt exposure power at continuous mode with pre-pulse, which is analogous to 60/wph. Cymer expects to ship that upgrade by the second quarter of 2012, according to Akins.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Cymer reported quarterly net income of $11.3 million, or $0.36 per share, compared to net income of $20.9 million, equal to $0.70 per share in the third quarter of 2010 and net income of $27.7 million, equal to $0.89 per share in the second quarter of 2011.
Quarterly revenue totaled $128.7 million, compared to revenue of $141.7 million in the third quarter of 2010, and revenue of $158.2 million in the second quarter of 2011.
“We believe we have identified and are addressing the key EUV source technical challenges facing us and we are working closely with ASML and our key suppliers to drive execution to our source power and performance roadmap,” Cymer’s Atkins said. “Our investment in EUV source development is substantial and one we view as essential to enable lithography scaling, and which we believe will drive significant long term growth.”
Others are also working on EUV sources. Earlier this year, rival Gigaphoton Inc. confirmed its LPP light source for EUV will be shipped in the beginning of 2012. “We are on track to prepare for the EUV business,” said Yuji Watanabe, president of Gigaphoton, in a recent statement.
The company has proposed a number of technologies in EUV sources, including mitigation of debris by using magnetic fields. The debris mitigation technology with magnetic fields allows greater reduction in Sn (tin) deposited on the collector mirror as well as in damage to the multi-layer film of the mirror, according to the company.
The other EUV source maker, XTREME, is developing products based on LDP technology. It combines the advantages of the traditional laser based and traditional discharge based technologies to generate EUV photons. Earlier this year, IMEC announced printing of the first EUV wafers with ASML’s NXE:3100 mounted with XTREME’s LDP source.
Tags: Cymer, Semiconductor