We will discuss the history and accomplishments of our employee-led STEM Outreach Committee. Our slogan “To Inspire with Light” is one element of the group’s charter, which also includes Mission and Vision statements that emphasize photonics education activities in San Diego County. The committee comprises approximately 20 employees who donate time to support the group. Our company provides support in the form of Executive encouragement, budget and allowance for time spent in execution of program events. Our committee has been operating for 3 years and has organized and/or participated in over two dozen events and programs in support of our mission.
The next generation 193 nm (ArF) laser has been designed and developed for high-volume production lithography. The NanoLithTM 7000, offering 20 Watts average output power at 4 kHz repetition rates is designed to support the highest exposure tool scan speeds for maximum productivity and wafer throughput. Fundamental design changes made to the laser core technologies are described. These advancements in core technology support the delivery of highly line-narrowed light with <EQ 0.35 pm FWHM and <EQ 0.95 pm at 95% included energy integral, enabling high contrast imaging from exposure tools with lens NA exceeding 0.75. The system has been designed to support production lithography, meeting specifications for bandwidth, dose stability (+/- 0.3% in 20 ms window) and wavelength stability (+/- 0.05 pm average line center error in 20 ms window) across 2 - 4 kHz repetition rates. Improvements in optical materials and coatings have led to increased lifetime of optics modules. Optimization of the discharge electrode design has increased chamber lifetime. Early life-testing indicates that the NanoLithTM core technologies have the potential for 400% reduction of cost of consumables as compared to its predecessor, the ELX-5000A and has been discussed elsewhere.
Now that 1000 Hz KrF excimer laser based DUV lithography tools are firmly established in production, emphasis is shifting from development towards improving the productivity and profitability of the manufacturing process, thereby reducing the cost per wafer. In this arena, laser manufacturers are competing now not only on performance but also on cost and productivity enhancements that the laser can offer to the lithography process.
The present day notion of the extensibility of KrF laser technology to ArF is revisited. We show that a robust solution to ArF requirements can be met by significantly altering the laser's core technology-discharge chamber, pulsed power and optics. With these changes, a practical ArF tool can be developed. Some of the laser specifications are: Bandwidth: 0.6 pm (FWHM) 1.75 pm (95% Included Energy); Average Power: 5 W; Repetition Rate: 1000 Hz; Energy Stability (3(sigma) ): 20% (burst mode) 8% (continuous); Pulse Width: 25 ns.
As applications have evolved out of the research areas, laser beam properties and component lifetimes have become critical to achieving low operating cost in a manufacturing environment. We will discuss the development of a 110 watt KrF laser using an all solid-state pulsed power system. Solid state pulsed power enables a significant reduction in system operating costs by greatly extending the exchange interval of the pulsed power and discharge chamber modules. Beam properties of the laser using both stable and unstable resonator configurations will be discussed.
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