Fairport, NY, June 20, 2002 -- Corning Tropel Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Corning Incorporated and a manufacturer of high-precision ultraviolet optical systems, announced that it has manufactured a lithographic objective lens with the highest resolution in the world. This 15X reduction stepper objective lens projects images onto a specially treated wafer that becomes the circuitry on a semiconductor.
With a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.85, the lens is able to resolve features smaller than 70nm-the highest resolution ever achieved in a lithographic objective. To achieve such resolution, the lens is able to sustain extremely short wavelengths of ultraviolet light. The lens is currently used by Semiconductor Leading Edge Technologies, Ltd. (SELETE), a research consortium of Japanese semiconductor manufacturers, in a 157nm lithography system.
"The line widths on the circuitry of today's most advanced microchips in production are 130nm. This lens is capable of resolving features nearly one-half that size, meeting the requirements for next-generation chips," said John Bruning, president and CEO, Corning Tropel. "This lens will be instrumental in helping photoresist manufacturers develop 157nm resists that are sensitive enough to produce such small features, and also durable enough to meet the performance demands of faster speeds and greater storage capacity."
The 0.85NA objective lens was designed and built for Exitech, Ltd., a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of laser microprocessing systems. The lens was integrated into Exitech's MS-157 micro-stepper tool and delivered to SELETE.
"Because this lens has the highest NA and shortest wavelength of operation of any objective used for high-resolution lithographic imaging, it will enable researchers to develop the technologies required for manufacturing the circuits on future generations of silicon chips," said Dr. Malcolm Gower, chairman and technical director, Exitech, Ltd. "In fact, SELETE researchers are already using the MS-157 tool to image features as small as 50nm on silicon wafers, which is approximately one-two thousandth the diameter of a human hair."
"The delivery of this lens was made possible through advanced research and development and superior manufacturing processes. It demonstrates our commitment to optical lithography at 157nm for next-generation chip manufacturing," added Bruning. "This has truly been a global effort, which ties together a U.S. manufacturer, a British systems integrator, and a Japanese research organization."
More information is available at www.corning.com.
Laser Focus World