ASML Selects Cymer for EUV Light Source

In the August story on laser-derived extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) photon sources, a spokesman for semiconductor scanner maker ASML Netherlands BV in Veldhoven said that the company would someday consider a laser-driven source.

This idea has become a reality: ASML and San Diego-based Cymer Inc. have announced a multiyear, multiunit laser-produced plasma EUV source agreement, with the first shipment scheduled for 2008.

Cymer is a supplier of deep-UV lasers used in semiconductor scanners, and the company several years ago proposed that lasers may be the best source for 13.5-nm EUV photons. According to the company, it has so far hit its developmental targets using a multistage carbon dioxide laser and tin droplets in an EUV source. Its plans call for obtaining 100 W of EUV power — the amount thought to be needed for cost-effective chip manufacturing — by the end of the year. Cymer also has made progress in debris mitigation, thereby extending the life of optical elements.