Dutch chip equipment maker ASML is set to unveil a new lithography machine that will enable the semiconductor industry to make chips with much smaller features. Next week, at the Semicon West trade show in San Francisco, ASML will announce a high volume production machine that can project electronic circuits on silicon wafers that are much thinner than today's most advanced lithography tools.
"We'll announce a hyper numerical aperture (NA) tool next week," an ASML spokeswoman said.
The launch heats up the race with main rival Nikon from Japan which is close to shipping a hyper NA machine.
In normal situations, the maximum value of numerical aperture is one. By putting a water-like liquid between the lens and the wafer, the ASML has increased that value to 1.2. This allows the machine to project more focused, and therefore smaller electronics features on the wafer while using an otherwise identical chip lithography machine with the same light source.
Important is that the new ASML machine can be used for normal, high-volume production. The ASML had already produced several machines that use water, but these still had NA values of below one and were mainly used for test purposes.
By adding water, which is called immersion technology, chip lithography machine makers push forward Moore's Law, named after Intel co-founder Gordon Moore who predicted 30 years ago that miniaturisation helps chip makers to double the number of features on a given chip surface every 18 to 24 months.
Immersion technology allows chipmakers to make features as small as 32 nanometres while today's most advanced machines produce at 65 nanometres. This means that chip producers can continue Moore's Law until the next decade without having to invest in completely new and very costly machines with a new, and yet commercially unproven light source extreme ultraviolet.
Analysts were pleased with the imminent announcement.
"It's not just about having the right technology; it's also about being able to make a machine that can do volume production, and in that respect ASML might still have a six to 12 month lead over Nikon," said Eric de Graaf at broker Petercam.
The ASML is the world's largest maker of semiconductor lithography machines, which map out electronic circuits on silicon wafers. It also competes with Japan's Canon.