SAN JOSE, Calif., June 26 -- Ultratech Inc. announced it has developed what it believes to be the integrated circuit (IC) industry's first laser thermal processing (LTP) technology that allows manufacturers to scale down to the 20-nm technology node, which will enable thermal processing advances to improve the speed and density of future-generation chips. LTP is also expected to improve device reliability and yields, the company said. Ultratech said it expects LTP to overcome current thermal diffusion limitations by accelerating anneal/activation times, and -- like its predecessor, rapid thermal processing (RTP), which enabled the submicron era --"to change the landscape by becoming a key enabler of the nanotechnology era." Ultratech said it worked with several chipmakers in the US and Japan to validate the technology, and has laser annealed thousands of 200-mm and 300-mm wafers. The company has been awarded more than 20 patents, with 40 more pending, for the technology. "Our customers and development partners tell us that LTP will be needed for the 65-nm and below technology nodes, and will be especially important to future SoC (system on chip) and microprocessor devices," said Somit Talwar, Ultratech's vice president of laser technology. "This is primarily due to LTP's unique ability to rapidly anneal and activate junctions and contacts, without impacting thermal budgets, prior process steps or some of the heat-intolerant device regions found in today's highly integrated SoC devices. As a result, we believe that LTP will immediately address several device layers and continue to grow in importance as additional applications are discovered." For more information, visit: www.ultratech.com