Ushio develops two lithographic lasers

Ushio develops two lithographic lasers

Ushio Inc. (Tokyo, Japan), a manufacturer of mercury arc lamps, power supplies, and illuminators for semiconductor lithographic systems, has developed two lasers for use as light sources for leading-edge wafer steppers. Both lasers emit at 193 nm, a wavelength seen as necessary for the production of next-generation semiconductor chips with linewidths of 0.15 µm and less. One source is an argon fluoride excimer laser that puts out line-narrowed light at an average power of 5 W. Its linewidth is 0.7 pm, while its repetition rate is 1 kHz. The other laser is an all-solid-state design and was developed jointly with an unnamed American laser manufacturer. Average power at 193 nm is 1 W at a 5-kH¥repetition rate, while spectral bandwidth is 0.1 pm.