Belgium’s imec collaborates with ASML, utilising its latest chip printing machine, setting new standards for semiconductor technology and boosting the industry’s innovation potential.
Imec, in a groundbreaking collaboration with ASML, has achieved significant milestones with the new 0.55NA Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) scanner at their High NA EUV Lithography Lab in Veldhoven, Netherlands.
This breakthrough, achieved through collective effort, demonstrates the ability to pattern intricate structures with unprecedented precision in a single exposure, advancing the semiconductor industry’s capabilities.
The lab’s recent tests successfully produced random logic structures with 9.5nm dense metal lines, translating to a 19nm pitch. Additionally, random vias were patterned with a 30nm centre-to-centre distance, showcasing exceptional pattern fidelity and uniformity. 2D features were achieved at a 22nm pitch, underscoring the high-resolution potential of High NA EUV lithography.
Imec also accomplished single-exposure patterning for DRAM designs, integrating the storage node landing pad with the bit line periphery. This achievement highlights High NA EUV’s ability to streamline processes by reducing the required mask layers.
These results follow meticulous preparatory work, including the development of advanced resists, underlayers, and photomasks, and the adaptation of baseline processes such as optical proximity correction (OPC) and integrated patterning techniques. This thorough preparation instills confidence in the robustness of the process.
Luc Van den Hove, president and CEO of imec, emphasised the role of technology in furthering the scaling of logic and memory technologies and pushing the industry into the ‘Angstrom era.’
