Nikon is to release a new double patterning (DP) specific 193nm ArF immersion scanner by the end of 2009, the company has announced. The NSR-S620 ArF immersion scanner has been improved to handle higher wafer throughput to tackle the cost impediment of double the number of exposures.
Nikon said that improvements to its Local Fill nozzle for water delivery and retrieval as well as its Tandem Stage wafer station enable the tool to be used for volume production.
Nikon is the preferred lithography supplier for double patterning at Intel Corp as it transitions to 32nm in late 2009, using DP for the first time.