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Extreme Ultraviolet Chip Manufacturing Process Technology Closer To Reality
MojoKid writes "One of the greatest obstacles standing between chip manufacturers and the pursuit of smaller, faster, processors is the lack of a proper light source. Current chips are etched using a deep ultraviolet wavelength of 193nm, but at a 28nm semiconductor process geometry, we've reached the limits of what a 193nm wavelength is small enough to etch. Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) has been pegged as the most likely replacement for current 193nm technology, but repeated problems with ramping EUV have left it stalled on the runway. Now, for the first time, foundry technology developer ASML, which made headlines last year by partnering more closely with Intel and TSMC, believes it has cleared some of the hurdles between it and widespread EUV commercialization. The company predicts EUV technology could be ready for ramp by 2015. Two problems have stymied EUV deployment thus far. The first is the strength of the light source. Generating EUV at the intensities required for mass production can require as much as an order of magnitude more input power than conventional lithography. Second, there's the issue of exposure time. The two are linked — a higher-power system can etch wafers more quickly, but the power requirements could edge into the kilowatt range for each piece of equipment. The NXE:3300, which ASML is shipping this year, will be capable of hitting 125 wafers per hour, once the company boosts the light source up to 250W. That boost is still off in the future. Current NXE:3300 machines are targeting 80W by the end of the year."
Ahh... good old ultraviolence.
someone explain to me how this is any different to the story posted not 48 hours ago http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/08/05/2336251/euv-chipmaking-inches-forward
Is this really needed here again? Same source, different article.
Dupe!
From the department of redundancy department.
The article makes no mention of the new wavelength, is it the same? It does mention a 10nm node, but that could be the targeted process geometry.
If we've reached the limits with what ultraviolet lithography can do already at 28nm, then how can Intel and other companies produce chips fabricated on smaller scales, given that they are alreaday at 22nm with 14nm coming within the next year or so?
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/08/05/2336251/euv-chipmaking-inches-forward
...Slashdot dupe detection technology is still many years off. It will take major advancements in AI before we'll be able to detect duplicates like this.
EUV Chipmaking Inches Forward (IEEE Spectrum)
This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
Because producing a chip isn't difficult enough, now you have to do it up a mountain.
Wait... What?
Current chips are etched using a deep ultraviolet wavelength of 193nm, but at a 28nm semiconductor process geometry, we've reached the limits of what a 193nm wavelength is small enough to etch.
does this mean intel's 22nm process is etched using magic?
I'm kind of surprised that photons of 193nm wavelength can be used to etch features smaller than one wavelength (28nm).
How is that possible?
IIRC, there's been plenty of research into using 13nm UV to do lithography. Intensity was one issue. The issue not mentioned in the summary is that 13nm is ionizing. It actually damages the silicon (and probably also the masks). So using 193nm, we get high process variation in part due to lithographic aberations (another cause is the randomness of dopant insertion). At 13nm, we get high variation due to damaging the device.
The picture seems to show the EUV light bouncing off 9 or 10 mirrors. What's up with that? It seems like getting good alignment on all that would be nearly impossible. Or are those "active" mirrors used for progressively correcting the alignment? What's up with those things?
Thanks for any insight.
Maybe I'm not understanding something here, but a piece of machinery operating in a kilowatt range doesn't sound too bad. I got a dual 500watt shop light that operates in the kilowatt range. I'd be more than happy to chip in a quarter or two to pay for a few kilowatt-hours of power if I get one of the first processors. Hell, I'd even do a whole $20 and power the bad boy up for an entire week non-stop for the good of the country.
Stanley Cubrick did it in 1971, and it's been a classic since. Ah yes, the old ultra-violet. Nothing like milk plus to sharpen you up a bit.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the light cone.
10 nm likely will be the end of CMOS silicon chips, gates can't be thinner than a single layer of atoms and quantum effects cause all manner of leaks, unpredictability and problems. So some new type of tech will be needed after circa 2015, whether carbon nanotech or perhaps quantum effects utilized
2 responses from annon and neither one explains why so many mirrors. Are masks in direct contact with the chip? If *not* then you could make fine adjustments with somewhat larger adjustments of these mirrors. But I speculate - hence the question. What's up with all those mirrors?
There is an alternative technology for the production of EUV light at lithography power levels. Zplasma Stable DPP uses Sheared Flow Stabilization to stabilize the EUV-emitting plasma. Stable plasma results in light pulses that are 10-100 times longer than than those produced by the unstable plasmas of other sources. The source uses no tin and has a controlled end to each pulse that does not produce the high-energy debris and molten tin sputtering that have been obstacles for other light sources. We have prototyped and demonstrated the physics of Stable DPP in the lab. Zplasma is seeking funding and development partners to scale our prototype up to the 200 watt light source the industry needs. http://zplasma.com.