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Masks for photo-lithography: what price?

L

Laurent Bloch

New member
Hi,

I am looking for references about the cost of masks for photo-lithography, specially for advanced processes, 7nm and 5nm.

Thank in advance for any hint. Have a nice day!
 
Are you looking for the all-up costs including design, rules checks, multimask partitioning, ILT, verification, or are you looking just for the physical cost of mask substrate, pattern writing, etching, inspection, and repair?

The physical costs are significantly smaller than the all-up costs. The preparation stages are not just EDA and take weeks or even months at the high end, but they also tend to have high payrolls. The physical mask may be made, inspected, and corrected in a few days.
 
Thank you for your answer. In fact, for a paper in economics I am writing, I am interested in the breakdown of the all-up costs for high end products, like SoC in 5nm or 3nm. It seems difficult to find papers on that subject.
 
Laurent Bloch said:
Hi,

I am looking for references about the cost of masks for photo-lithography, specially for advanced processes, 7nm and 5nm.

Thank in advance for any hint. Have a nice day!
Click to expand...
FYI
1698144812240.png

From: https://www.stockfeel.com.tw/晶片-貴-成...DZOSNt5_w1YgXieaIc6VwYsq_7OWE-bDWtP1bsTOOj6is
 
There are problems with his sources:

"In terms of advanced process design costs, Semiengingeering, a well-known semiconductor technology research institution, also calculated the cost of wafers under different processes."

Semiengineering is not a research institution, not even close. They are journalists. If you want to know mask prices as Scotten Jones.

From what I know those prices in the graphic are high but I work with the big fabless companies. I have no idea what the quantity one mask price is.
 
I would like to see a really rough estimate:
How many layers in a 4nm logic process
what is the total cost of one mask set (EUV, I-DUV, DUV, ..... I-line) all of them.

Rough numbers are fine. It is very important for some smaller companies.
 
jms_embedded said:
40nm mask set of ~ $40M US seems outrageously high; $40M TW = $1.33M US might be reasonable? (the bubble callouts seem to be USD with vertical scale TWD)
Click to expand...
Gartner would be US$. I think the price is for the time period - a leading edge design in 40nm at $60M all up was probably about right for 2008. Gartner is listing whole chip design including firmware, not just mask design.

If that project were to be done today in 45/40n with modern EDA and fab, it is probably a lot cheaper and a good yield would be routine. Especially if the project is an iteration of an existing base design which has had time to mature and accumulated some experienced users.
 
Last edited:
MKWVentures said:
I would like to see a really rough estimate:
How many layers in a 4nm logic process
what is the total cost of one mask set (EUV, I-DUV, DUV, ..... I-line) all of them.

Rough numbers are fine. It is very important for some smaller companies.
Click to expand...
Mask cost depends who you are and which process options are chosen -- but certainly well over $10M for 4nm...
 
hskuo said:
If the most advanced mask layers # and others' mask grades are the same, then the mask set cost should be the same.
Click to expand...
4nm mask surely have tighter spec than 5nm , so surely they will be more expensive even if its just a little bit
 
The EUV mask clearly costs much more than a DUV mask because much smaller defects on or embedded within the mask will print. It should be DUV <$150K, EUV>$300K.
 
Last edited:
Fred Chen said:
It should be DUV <$150K, EUV>$300K.
Click to expand...
I would have guessed DUV around $20k, EUV around $100k, for the mask blank and its manufacture.

They are 130 cm2 plates with single pattern (yes, phase adds complexity to DUV, but the process is very mature now), and repairable. It uses about 10 hours of time on a $40M machine, which works out to about $10k, followed by inspection and some repair (at a 4x larger resolution than the chip it is projected upon). Compare this to making wafers of 700 cm2 in 50 layers or more for $15,000.

The EUV blank is far more expensive, with a complex inspection for errors and repairs before it can be used, and then a much more demanding inspection and repair of the mask after exposure. Still, now these are routinely produced it is hard to see why they should cost more than $100k. What am I overlooking?

Of course there are design and verification costs before and after the physical manufacture, and those will generally be multiples larger.
 
Last edited:
Barnsley said:
4nm mask surely have tighter spec than 5nm , so surely they will be more expensive even if its just a little bit
Click to expand...
TSMC 4nm is basically a 2% linear shrink of 5nm (plus some process tweaks to improve performance), exactly the same masks and costs.
 
IanD said:
TSMC 4nm is basically a 2% linear shrink of 5nm (plus some process tweaks to improve performance), exactly the same masks and costs.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the explanation as to why they are the same , it wasnt clear.

Standard is that shrink masks are the same price as the non-shrink as far as I am aware
 
Masks in short supply, why? Presumably demand is up beyond expectations? And this seems to be DUV, not EUV.
www.thelec.net

Photomask in shortage from China and AI chip development

The shortage in photomasks is continuing despite the global economic downturn due to high demand for the commodity from Chinese chip fabless and foundry companies.Photomask makers, Toppan, Photronics, and Dai Nippon Printing, are all maintaining factory operation rates of 100%, sources said.Some Chi
www.thelec.net www.thelec.net
 
Tanj said:
Masks in short supply, why? Presumably demand is up beyond expectations? And this seems to be DUV, not EUV.
www.thelec.net

Photomask in shortage from China and AI chip development

The shortage in photomasks is continuing despite the global economic downturn due to high demand for the commodity from Chinese chip fabless and foundry companies.Photomask makers, Toppan, Photronics, and Dai Nippon Printing, are all maintaining factory operation rates of 100%, sources said.Some Chi
www.thelec.net www.thelec.net
Click to expand...

Maybe the FABS using maskshops have learned that screwing their suppliers for many years was just for short term bottom line benefits.

How about working together , there is plenty to go round.
 
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