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Gigaphoton has added to its immersion lithography product range with the GT63A, a next-generation ArF excimer laser for multi-patterning immersion lithography scanners. The company has announced that the new product, which has been developed in response to customers’ needs and requests, will be ready for shipment in the second quarter of 2012. Read more >>

ASML has had a great start to the New Year with several new orders placed with the lithography equipment leader that total over US$108 million. TSMC has begun 2012 with a new wave of purchase orders with leading equipment suppliers. Read more >>

One of the longest technology partnerships in the semiconductor industry is set to get longer after both imec and ASML agreed to extend work on both immersion and EUVL development, for a further 5 years. The agreement follows installations at imec’s 300mm R&D facility with ASML’s NXT1950i immersion tool and its NXE:3300B, the successor of ASML’s NXE:3100 preproduction tool that has been installed at imec, earlier this year. Read more >>

A major independent device manufacturer has placed a multi-system purchase order with RAVE for its ‘Rhazer’ haze removal systems for reticles. The orders were given after an extensive in-fab evaluation of the Rhazer haze removal technology, according to RAVE. Read more >>

The IMAGINE program for maskless lithography, based on MAPPER’s lithography platform has received a boost with Synopsys joining the program and providing mask-based software solutions. CEA-Leti and MAPPER Lithography launched the program in July 2009. Read more >>

DUV light source orders have waned in the second quarter as IC manufacturers pause on capital expenditure plans going into 2011, according to comments made by Cymer in reporting quarterly results last week. Light source shipments in 2Q, totalled 47 light sources, of which 28 were ArF immersion, 17 were KrF and 2 were ArF dry, and the company installed 56 light sources at chipmaker and other end user locations. Read more >>

Billed as an important milestone in imec’s ‘Advanced Lithography’ program, the research centre has successfully printed wafers using the new pre-production EUV scanner from ASML. The system also employs a laser assisted discharge plasma (LDP) source from XTREME technologies and is interfaced with a TEL Lithius Pro EUV process track. According to imec, ASML’s NXE:3100, is currently the only pre-production tool in the world equipped with an LDP source from XTREME technologies. The EUV tool is reported to cost approximatley €42 million. Read more >>

ASML reported record quarterly revenue for the second quarter of 2011. Sales were €1.529 billion, compared to €1,452 billion in the previous quarter. ASML shipped 63 systems shipped valued at €1.333 billion. Service and field option sales were at €196 million in the quarter. Order backlog were reported at €2.756 billion, made up of 105 systems with an ASP of €26.2 million. ASML expects net sales to be lower than analysts had expected for the third quarter. The lithography supplier guided sales of €1.4 billion, including two second generation EUV systems which represent total sales of around €80 million with zero profit margin. ASML reiterated that its sales expectation for 2011 would hit a record of over €5 billion, not including EUV. Read more >>

Considering its pre-production NXT:3100 EUV lithography tool was thought to carry a  price tag above €50 million a pop, while having a throughput in the single digit wafer per hour range, ASML's production tool; NXE:3100 looks a bit of bargain at an ASP of €42 million, given the projected throughput of 60wph. Read more >>

SUSS MicroTec is to ship the first MaskTrack Pro InSync - the first holistic in-fab EUVL mask management offering to imec in Belgium, in August 2011. MTP InSync is a stand-alone or clustered handling system which seamlessly synchronizes mask cleaning, handling, inspection and storage in a single controlled environment. Read more >>