The most extreme ultraviolet technology will promo

Ultra violet technology will promote the rapid development of optical instruments

the number of transistors that can be accommodated in a chip can be doubled every few years, but this trend seems to be at an end. One of the solutions is to use EUV lithography technology to etch smaller transistors on microchips, that is, use ultra short wavelength light to produce 4 times finer patterns on existing microchips. The number of transistors that a chip can hold can be doubled every few years, but this trend seems to be at an end. One of the solutions is to use EUV lithography technology to etch smaller transistors on microchips, that is, use ultra short wavelength light to produce 4 times finer patterns on existing microchips. The integrated circuit pattern on the chip is made by letting light shine through a shelter on a silicon wafer coated with photoresist. At present, only deep UV (wavelength is generally about 193 nm) lithography technology can be used to produce the smallest pattern with a width of 22 nm

the only way to etch smaller patterns on a chip is to use shorter wavelengths of light. By shortening the wavelength to 13.5 nm, the pattern on the chip can be reduced to 5 nm or less. In order to achieve this, EUV lithography technology is facing challenges in chemistry, physics and engineering. It is necessary to rethink the optical instruments, photoresists, masks and light sources behind the lithography system. In view of this, Intel announced that it would invest US $4.1 billion to accelerate the research and development of 450 mm wafer technology and EUV lithography technology, and promote the progress of silicon semiconductor technology

almost all materials (including the utilization status and demand of packaging and other industries; air) will absorb light with a wavelength as short as 13.5 nm. Therefore, this process needs to be carried out in vacuum. Moreover, according to the research of industrial securities, this light cannot be guided by traditional mirrors and lenses, so special mirrors need to be manufactured. But even these special mirrors will absorb a lot of EUV light, so this light must be very bright. The researchers explained that the dimmer the light is, the longer it takes to solidify the photoresist. Moreover, because lithography is the slowest step in the microchip manufacturing process, the intensity of EUV light source is crucial to reduce costs. The first generation EUV light source can only provide about 10 watts of light, and one hour is only enough to make patterns on 10 silicon wafers. The commercial system must reach 200 watts and make at least 100 patterns an hour

another challenge to confirm the type and content of metals is that at present, circuits are generally etched on 300 nm wide silicon wafers, but Intel hopes that EUV technology can be carried out on 450 nm wide silicon wafers, so that the number of circuits made at one time can be doubled, which requires Asmat to develop new manufacturing equipment, which Intel hopes to do in 2016