San Diego (CA) - Cymer, a supplier of deep ultraviolet (DUV) laser light sources currently used in semiconductor manufacturing, today unveiled what the firm claims to be the world's first argon fluoride (ArF) laser light source for 45 nm production immersion photolithography.
Compared to the preceding product generation, the ArF device offers a 50% improvement in energy stability and more than 20% reduction in cost of ownership, Cymer claims. ArF lasers are generally known as producing high-energy laser pulses that last from five to 20 ns and achieve repetition rates of up to 2000 Hz.
Immersion photolithography is considered the next phase of 193 nm wavelength DUV lithography, preceding extreme ultraviolet (EUV), a major and expensive transition in chip production that uses a 13.5 nm technology to "print" smaller circuit structures. Compared to traditional photolithography, immersion lithography employs a liquid medium between the optics and the wafer surface.
