The next generation of EUV lithography systems are based on a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.55, a 67% increase from the current value of 0.33. It targets being able to print 16 nm pitch [1]. The High-NA systems are already expected to face complications from four issues: (1) reduced depth-of-focus requires thinner resists, which… Read More
The Electron Spread Function in EUV Lithography
To the general public, EUV lithography’s resolution can be traced back to its short wavelengths (13.2-13.8 nm), but the true printed resolution has always been affected by the stochastic behavior of the electrons released by EUV absorption [1-5].
A 0.33 NA EUV system is expected to have a diffraction-limited point spread… Read More
Double Diffraction in EUV Masks: Seeing Through The Illusion of Symmetry
At this year’s SPIE Advanced Lithography conference, changes to EUV masks were particularly highlighted, as a better understanding of their behavior is becoming clear. It’s now confirmed that a seemingly symmetric EUV mask absorber pattern does not produce a symmetric image at the wafer, as a conventional DUV … Read More
Demonstration of Dose-Driven Photoelectron Spread in EUV Resists
As a consequence of having a ~13.5 nm wavelength, EUV photons transfer ~90% of their energy to ionized photoelectrons. Thus, EUV lithography is fundamentally mostly EUV photoelectron lithography. The actual resolution becomes dependent on photoelectron trajectories.
Photoelectron trajectories in EUV lithography were… Read More
Adding Random Secondary Electron Generation to Photon Shot Noise: Compounding EUV Stochastic Edge Roughness
The list of possible stochastic patterning issues for EUV lithography keeps growing longer: CD variation, edge roughness, placement error, defects [1]. The origins of stochastic behavior are now well-known. For a given EUV photon flux into the resist, a limited fraction are absorbed. Since the absorption is less than 5% affected… Read More
Intel and the EUV Shortage
In my “The EUV Divide and Intel Foundry Services” article available here, I discussed the looming EUV shortage. Two days ago, Intel announced their first EUV tool installed at their new Fab 34 in Ireland is a tool they moved from Oregon. This is another indication of the scarcity of EUV tools.
I have been tracking EUV system production… Read More
Can Intel Catch TSMC in 2025?
At the ISS conference held from April 4th through 6th I presented on who I thought would have the leading logic technology in 2025. The following is a write up of that presentation.
ISS was a virtual conference in 2021 and I presented on who currently had logic leadership and declared TSMC the clear leader. Following that conference,… Read More
EUV Resist Absorption Impact on Stochastic Defects
Stochastic defects continue to draw attention in the area of EUV lithography. It is now widely recognized that stochastic issues not only come from photon shot noise due to low (absorbed) EUV photon density, but also the resist material and process factors [1-4].
It stands to reason that resist absorption of EUV light, which is … Read More
Etch Pitch Doubling Requirement for Cut-Friendly Track Metal Layouts: Escaping Lithography Wavelength Dependence
The 5nm foundry node saw the arrival of 6-track standard cells with four narrow routing tracks between wide power/ground rails (Figure 1a), with minimum pitches of around 30 nm [1]. The routing tracks require cuts [2] with widths comparable to the minimum half-pitch, to enable the via connections to the next metal layer with the… Read More
The EUV Divide and Intel Foundry Services
The EUV Divide
I was recently updating an analysis I did last year that looked at EUV system supply and demand, while doing this I started thinking about Intel and their Fab portfolio.
If you look at Intel’s history as a microprocessor manufacturer, they are typically ramping up their newest process node (n), in volume production… Read More


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