Carl Zeiss SMT has been nominated for the German Future Prize – the Prize of the German President for Technology and Innovation. The team responsible for the nomination came from its EUV lithography group developing the complex mirrors required for the technology to be accepted into volume semiconductor manufacturing. The award is regarded as one of the most renowned in Germany in the field of technology and innovation. 

“There are no transparent lens materials for shortwave EUV radiation (13nm wavelength),” noted Dr. Peter Kürz, speaker for the nominated team. “The solution lies in complex mirrors that have to be polished with the precision of a few atomic layers due to the extraordinary challenges. Our contribution is to manufacture these mirrors and also precisely integrate them into a total system.”

Developers and engineers at Carl Zeiss SMT have been working on this technology for more than 10 years.  Over €100 million has already been invested in EUV technology, according to the company.

The final decision on this year’s winner will be made on December 6th, 2007, at an award ceremony in Berlin.

Caption:
Winfried Kaiser (center), Dr. Peter Kürz (left) and Dr. Martin Lowisch representing all Carl Zeiss SMT employees involved in the project. Winfried Kaiser initiated the development of EUV and its advancement in Germany and Europe in the mid 1990s, thus laying the foundation for global acceptance. Dr. Peter Kürz has headed the EUV program at Carl Zeiss SMT since 1999. As a systems engineer, Dr. Martin Lowisch is responsible for the technical design of the optical system.