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Canon Inc. (CAJ) and Infineon Technologies AG (IFX) have come together to develop a new photolithography system to help create what they say is the smallest circuitry ever. In photolithography, laser light is used to print the pattern of an integrated circuit onto a silicon wafer; chemicals then etch the pattern into the surface so that components such as transistors can be built into it. From 25 to 30 layers of these wafers are stacked to create a single semiconductor chip.
For the project, Canon is creating a technology that will utilize a laser wavelength of 157 nanometers, which will be able to pattern the smallest circuit features yet, it says. By way of comparison, chips made with 248-nanometer lasers went into mainstream production in 1996, and chips produced with 193-nanometer beams will be in widespread use by 2002, Canon says. Infineon is contributing manufacturing data and plans to use the process at its production sites.
"A 157-nanometer technology was ruled out as virtually impossible in the early nineties," says Phil Ware, senior fellow in lithography strategy at Canon USA. "But breakthroughs in glass materials and other areas have made it possible." The two companies predict that the new system will go into mainstream production in 2005 or 2006.Canon Inc. (CAJ) and Infineon Technologies AG (IFX) have come together to develop a new photolithography system to help create what they say is the smallest circuitry ever. In photolithography, laser light is used to print the pattern of an integrated circuit onto a silicon wafer; chemicals then etch the pattern into the surface so that components such as transistors can be built into it. From 25 to 30 layers of these wafers are stacked to create a single semiconductor chip.
For the project, Canon is creating a technology that will utilize a laser wavelength of 157 nanometers, which will be able to pattern the smallest circuit features yet, it says. By way of comparison, chips made with 248-nanometer lasers went into mainstream production in 1996, and chips produced with 193-nanometer beams will be in widespread use by 2002, Canon says. Infineon is contributing manufacturing data and plans to use the process at its production sites.
"A 157-nanometer technology was ruled out as virtually impossible in the early nineties," says Phil Ware, senior fellow in lithography strategy at Canon USA. "But breakthroughs in glass materials and other areas have made it possible." The two companies predict that the new system will go into mainstream production in 2005 or 2006.
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