High-NA chips: Intel's latest exposure system is up and running
Intel has taken delivery of and assembled the first high-NA exposure machine from ASML. Weighing over 150 tons, it gives Intel a head start.
Twinscan EXE:5000 from ASML at Intel Foundry in Oregon
(Bild: Intel Corp)
Intel Foundry announces the completion of installation work on the first "production-ready" exposure machine with extreme ultraviolet wavelengths and high numerical aperture (High NA EUV). It was supplied by ASML and is located at Intel's research semiconductor plant in Hillsboro, Oregon ("D1X"). Calibration is now underway; next year it is expected to expose up to 220 wafers per hour.
The aim is to produce chips with even smaller structures (less than 2 nanometers or 20 angstroms). This reduces power consumption and allows more transistors to be accommodated within the same surface area. Additionally, the new system can expose with higher contrast, which reduces the exposure time. This consequently speeds up production.
The wavelength for exposure is 13.5 nanometers, which does not occur naturally on Earth. The system generates this extreme ultraviolet light by heating tin to an astonishing 220,000 degrees Celsius using a laser. According to Intel, this is 40 times the average surface temperature of the sun. Kindly refrain from attempting this at home. The resulting light passes through a mask that depicts the desired circuit pattern and is then directed onto the silicon wafer by exceptionally precise mirrors from Zeiss. These mirrors have refraction angles that reduce the resolution from 13.5 to 8 nm.
ASML gives Intel a head start
The Dutch company ASML has thus far been the only one to have conquered this technology. The system is called Twinscan EXE:5000 and costs 350 million euros. It was delivered in 43 containers from the Netherlands and weighs in excess of 150 tons. Intel is the launch customer for EXE:5000 and has already **placed an order for** the successor model EXE:5200B. Readers interested in making a purchase will have to give Intel priority.
With the first delivery, Intel has gained a head start over TSMC, Samsung and other chip manufacturers. Traditionally, ASML only delivers a handful of the highly **sought-after** new exposure machines from a completely new generation in the first year and then scales up production.
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