Video: the road to EUV lithography

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light sources have long been seen as the key to reducing feature sizes in semiconductor manufacturing toward the 10 nm mark, and therefore maintaining the rule of Moore's law. The highly complex technology has been beset by challenges over the past decade or more, but recent developments have suggested that some serious progress is at last being made.

Cymer, Inc. (San Diego, CA) is a supplier of excimer light sources, including the deep ultraviolet (DUV) photolithography sources that are essential to today's semiconductor marketplace. ASML, a leading supplier of lithography stepper tools and a key customer of Cymer's, has placed a six-unit order for EUV light sources, and one is already in use. These tools are not expected to be used in any volume production applications, but they will enable pilot production.

In this video, Bruno LaFontaine, senior director of global lithograpy technology at Cymer, discusses the company's progress and remaining challenges in the integration of EUV into manufacturing. Also appearing in the video is Harry Levinson, manager of strategic lithography for Global Foundries. They were interviewed for SPIE Newsroom in August 2010 at Cymer's San Diego headquarters.