Online information source for semiconductor professionals

Swedish company Micronic Laser Systems AB has received its second order of 2H08 for a Sigma7500 photomask pattern generator. This order, which comes from an unnamed U.S.-based chip manufacturer, will see shipment of the tool by the end of this year. The tool is used in photomask production and is capable of handling applications from the 90nm node to the 45nm node. Read more >>

E-beam based mask supplier, NuFlare Technology has ordered one of the first available new ‘PROVE’ systems for Photomask Registration and Overlay Metrology from Carl Zeiss SMT. PROVE was developed by a team of more than 40 Carl Zeiss SMT engineers and supported by SEMATECH in its development. Read more >>

Elpida Memory has said that it has used 193nm ArF immersion lithography and copper interconnect technology for the development of its 50nm DDR3 SDRAM semiconductors. Volume production is scheduled to begin in the January-March 2009 quarter, the company said. Read more >>

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. Read more >>

ASML Holding NV has set a productivity record with its TWINSCAN platform of lithography systems. To date, the company has 76 TWINSCAN systems that have processed more than one million wafers in a 12-month period. Read more >>

Cymer said it will reduce its worldwide workforce by approximately 8 percent, or 85 total employees, which are in addition to a range of cost saving measures previously in place as the severity of the semiconductor downturn becomes clearer. Read more >>

Brion Technologies is teaming up with NuFlare Technology, Inc. to design and develop new manufacturing technologies for next-generation semiconductor masks. Brion is using its Tachyon technology in order to look and tackle the challenges of mask equipment technology of the 32nm process node and beyond; NuFlare will then market the new products. Read more >>

Nikon has revised downwards its projected sales of lithography tools for its current financial year, citing the reduction in capital equipment spending by semiconductor manufacturers. Nikon now expects to sell 74 lithography tools compared to 96, previously projected, a 30 percent reduction. Read more >>

Photronics has said it will close its Manchester, UK photomask manufacturing facility in an effort to reduce operating costs as the company is not profitable. The Company plans to maintain a customer support and data preparation center in Manchester, while customers mask requirements are transferred to other facilities, including its most advanced mask shop in Boise, Idaho. Photronics estimates that approximately 85 employees will be affected by the planned closure. Read more >>

At the seventh EUVL Symposium, organized by SEMATECH, key challenges remain for EUV lithography before volume production adoption at the 22nm half-pitch, according to attendees and an assessment from the research consortium. Read more >>