July 14, 2005, San Francisco, CA--In the first quarter of 2006, ASML (Veldhoven, The Netherlands) will begin shipping a 1.2 numerical aperture (NA) lithography tool for chip production at the 45-nm node, according to comments by Martin van den Brink, executive VP for marketing and technology, at SEMICON West.
The new ASML Twinscan XT:1700i is the company's fourth generation, dual-stage, immersion tool and has achieved a 30% jump in NA from 0.93 to 1.2 using a catadioptric lens design, combining refractive and reflective elements, developed in collaboration with Carl Zeiss (Oberkochen, Germany). A polarized illumination system enhances resolution by 5 nm from 50 to 45 nm. The system maintains the 122 wafer per hour throughput of the previous generation and covers a maximum field size of 26 by 33 mm.
"The continuation of Moore's Law depended on either adapting existing or introducing new technology," van den Brink said. "ASML was able to enahnce it's fourth-generation immersion systems with a NA that is unchallenged in the market."