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Cymer celebrates 1000 sources, Nikon gets wetter |
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Jan 16, 2007 at 04:06 PM |
Congrats to Cymer, which recently celebrated the shipping of its 1000th excimer laser light source to one of its main litho-scanner-tool customers, Nikon.
The news certainly represents a milestone, especially when you consider that Cymer honcho Bob Akins almost started up a fast-food restaurant instead of Cymer many years ago (a tidbit revealed during an industry trivia quiz at last week's ISS banquet.)
But the announcement also piqued my curiosity about certain specifics of the story not mentioned in the press release. The PR mentioned that the XLA 300 source had already shipped and that it will be integrated with Nikon's newest immersion-litho platform, the S610C. Although my contacts inside and outside the two companies could not confirm which customer the scanner will be going to, I did find out that it is an Asian chipmaker. I also confirmed that all Nikon immersion tools are coupled with Cymer sources.
The Nikon tool incorporating the 1000th source has been completed but not shipped to the customer yet, who is doing some work at a Nikon site, according to one source. That tool will ship by early February at the latest. Nikon has a slew of S610Cs scheduled to ship throughout the year, with 20 in backlog based on booked orders or firm commitments from customers in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Europe, and the United States. Powerchip is one of those customers, since that sale was made public recently. Nikon has already shipped between 10 and 15 of its earlier-generation S609B immersion systems as well.
Nikon's Kumagaya factory is running at what my source calls "full capacity." The company has forecasted around 170 systems being turned out in fiscal 2007. Immersion tools evidently take up more space on the factory floor and have longer lead times (9--12 months versus 6 months) than their dry ArF counterparts.
The intense competition between Nikon and ASML to secure the immersion-litho high ground, with Canon saying it may yet weigh in, remains an intriguing matchup as well as providing key plot elements to one of the semiconductor manufacturing industry's most compelling technological story lines. No matter which competitor gets an edge, Cymer is sitting pretty, supplying all the scanner players from its perch as the overwhelming leader in the DUV laser-light-source space.
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