tag: high-NA EUV

Research Bits: June 23
By Jesse Allen - 23 Jun, 2026 - Comments: 0

Redesigning high-NA EUV A researcher from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) proposes redesigning the illumination systems and projectors used in high-NA EUV lithography to reduce optical effects and enhance resolution. In the proposed projector design, the collector mirrors in the illumination system have a simpler design to bring short wavelengths of light from the EUV... » read more

Mask Economics Shape High-NA EUV Adoption
By Gregory Haley - 22 Jun, 2026 - Comments: 1

Key Takeaways: Mask costs are not stopping leading-edge scaling, but they increasingly influence design, node, and process choices. High-NA EUV will tighten requirements for CD, EPE, local CDU, mask 3D modeling, stitching, and materials. Reduced depth of focus in High-NA EUV will drive new resist, etch, film, and absorber approaches. Experts at the table: Semiconductor Engin... » read more

The Sub-2nm Paradox
By Ed Sperling - 01 Jun, 2026 - Comments: 2

Key Takeaways: Process variation and physics are changing semiconductor design, manufacturing, and economics at 2nm and below. Even though new manufacturing processes are being introduced, it's taking longer for them to mature. The focus for many chip designs is faster data movement and more efficient computing, rather than just relying on more transistors per mm2. At 2nm an... » read more

Curvilinear Masks Push The Limits Of Inspection And Metrology
By Gregory Haley - 27 May, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways: Curvilinear masks require native data flows across design, mask data prep, writing, inspection, and metrology. Inspection is shifting from finding all defects to identifying which mask variations actually print on wafer. High-NA EUV will intensify inspection challenges, particularly for small printable defects and actinic contrast limits. Experts at the table... » read more

Mask Technology Faces A New Set Of Challenges
By Gregory Haley - 21 May, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways: Mask inspection and repair remain the critical bottleneck, even as multi-beam writers have reduced mask-writing constraints. Curvilinear masks are becoming viable for critical layers, but qualification, metrology, and inspection standards still lag production needs. Scaling curvilinear requires curvilinear-native data flows, model-based checks, GPU/HPC compute, and les... » read more

Exploring The Frontiers Of Lithography And Patterning: Highlights From SPIE Advanced Lithography + Patterning 2026
By Travis Brist - 19 Mar, 2026 - Comments: 0

Leading‑edge system-on-chip (SoC) designs at deep submicron nodes are stretching lithography and patterning capabilities across the entire manufacturing flow. Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography has become central to printing advanced features, using high‑power pulsed lasers to generate a plasma light source and reflective optics to project mask patterns onto the wafer. As error budgets t... » read more

Expert Panel Sees History Of Continuous Photomask Innovations As Key To The Future
By Jan Willis - 27 Oct, 2025 - Comments: 0

The eBeam Initiative conducted its 14th annual eBeam Initiative Luminaries survey in July and reported the results on September 23, 2025 to more than 200 attendees at its annual meeting during the BACUS SPIE Photomask Technology conference. Industry luminaries representing 51 companies from across the semiconductor ecosystem—including photomasks, electronic design automation (EDA), chip desig... » read more

Viability of aZnMIm As A Resist For EUV Lithography (Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Intel et al.)
By Technical Paper Link - 27 Jun, 2025 - Comments: 0

A new technical paper (preprint) titled "Extreme Ultraviolet and Beyond Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography using Amorphous Zeolitic Imidazolate Resists Deposited by Atomic/Molecular Layer Deposition" was published by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Northwestern University, Intel Corporation, Bruker Nano, EUV Tech and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. The paper states "This study demonstr... » read more

Are Larger Reticle Sizes On The Horizon?
By Katherine Derbyshire - 19 Jun, 2025 - Comments: 0

Making high-NA EUV lithography work will take a manufacturing-worthy approach to stitching together circuits or a wholesale change to larger masks. Circuit stitching between the exposure fields is challenging the design, yield and manufacturability of the high-NA (0.55) EUV transition. The alternative is a radical change from 6x6-inch to 6x11-inch masks that would eliminate stitching, but it... » read more

EUV Lithography: The Resolution Capability And Stochastic Behavior From Statistical Viewpoints
By Technical Paper Link - 18 Jun, 2025 - Comments: 0

A new technical paper titled "Statistics of EUV exposed nanopatterns: Photons to molecular dissolutions" was published by Hiroshi Fukuda, Hitachi High-Tech Corporation. Abstract "For higher computing power of semiconductor integrated circuits, pattern feature sizes below 10 nm are anticipated by introducing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography with high numerical aperture (NA) optics. Ho... » read more

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