Term of the Moment

cinema


Look Up Another Term


Redirected from: chip scanner

Definition: EUV machine


(Extreme UltraViolet machine) The photolithographic step and scan machine that is used in state-of-the-art chip manufacturing. The machine generates extreme ultraviolet light and beams it through a photomask to create patterns on the layer of photoresist film coated on the wafer.

More than a hundred wafers can be processed in an hour. The photomask (reticle) covers only a small area on the wafer, perhaps four or five chips, thus the wafer has to be moved under the lens many times (stepped) to complete the operation for a single layer. At each step, the reticle is scanned, hence the name "step and scan" machine or "scanner." See ASML, reticle, ultraviolet light, computational lithography and chip manufacturing.






ASML Makes EUV Machines
ASML is the only manufacturer that makes extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light machines, which at the size of a city bus weigh in at 200 tons and cost $300 million and more. The massive weight is required to keep the machine steady as it moves the wafer quickly to its next position while maintaining an accuracy of two nanometers. Each layer in the chip must be aligned perfectly over the previous one. (Images courtesy of ASML.)






Generating and Focusing EUV Light
Tin droplets are bombarded with two lasers 50,000 times per second to create a plasma with the required 13.5 nm wavelength. This purple EUV light is higher in frequency than visible light but lower than x-rays. The laser system reaches a power level of 20 thousand watts and is so large that it typically resides in a whole floor below the clean room. A raft of Carl Zeiss optics guides the light from source to destination. The most advanced semiconductor manufacturing machine on the planet, ASML uses tens of thousands of parts from hundreds of vendors. (Image courtesy of ASML.)





A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
misc