Toppan Photomasks Delivers EUV Masks to Support the Industry's First Full-Field EUV Scanner by ASML
Toppan Photomasks, Inc. announced today that extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) masks produced at Toppan Photomasks' commercial manufacturing facility in Dresden, Germany, have been made for ASML and will be used to set up and do the first lithography on the ASML EUV alpha tool. ASML's EUV alpha tool is the semiconductor industry's first-ever, 0.25 NA full-field EUV scanner.
"The advanced EUV masks from Toppan Photomasks are an important component of qualifying the ASML EUV alpha tool," said Noreen Harned, vice president technology, marketing and new business, ASML. "ASML is committed to collaborating with industry leaders, including Toppan Photomasks, to explore technologies that may take lithography beyond the immersion era."
EUV lithography is a next-generation lithography (NGL) technology that uses exposure wavelengths of 13nm along with reflective, multi-layered photomasks to image IC patterns onto silicon wafers. EUV technology is seen as a potential candidate for semiconductor volume product imaging beyond 193-nm immersion lithography for designs at 32nm halfpitch dimensions by 2010-2012.
"Toppan Photomasks' ability to make commercial EUV photomasks well ahead of the post-immersion era is a clear demonstration of the leadership position that our Dresden manufacturing campus has taken in advanced photomask technologies across the industry," said Dr. Franklin Kalk, chief technology officer, Toppan Photomasks. "The delivery of these masks underscores our determination to support our customers' quest for NGL technologies for 32nm and beyond."
Toppan Photomasks' Dresden manufacturing campus includes a commercial production facility and a joint venture R&D center called the Advanced Mask Technology Center (AMTC). The AMTC is equally owned among Toppan Photomasks, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Infineon Technologies AG. The campus began operations in 2004, and today provides leading-edge device makers with commercial photomasks for design rules as low as 65nm. Linked to Toppan Photomasks' network of facilities in North America, Europe and Asia by a proprietary software system called eMask®, the Dresden facility receives, processes and fills orders from customers around the world, allowing them to achieve shorter cycle times and reduced costs.
About Toppan Photomasks
Toppan Photomasks, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., a diversified global company with revenue in excess of $13 billion in fiscal 2005. Together with the photomasks business of Toppan Printing, the company forms the world's premier photomask provider. Utilizing operations within the industry's most advanced and largest network of manufacturing facilities, Toppan Photomasks offers a comprehensive range of photomask technologies and research and development capabilities to meet the increasingly sophisticated and divergent product-and-service requirements of the global semiconductor industry. Toppan Photomasks is headquartered in Round Rock, Texas, USA. For more information visit www.photomask.com.
About Toppan Printing
Founded in 1900, Toppan Printing has branched into eight diverse business fields including security cards, commercial printing, publications printing, e-business, packaging, decorative materials, electronics and optronics. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, Toppan posted revenues of ¥1,413.6 billion (approximately US$13.5 billion) and ended the year with approximately 32,700 employees. For more information visit www.toppan.co.jp.
Company Contact
Tom BlakeToppan Photomasks, Inc.
Tel: (512) 310-6562
tom.blake@photomask.com