State-of-the-art CMOS process technology High-NA-EUV facility set up in 5 months - Intel dispels cost concerns

Related Vendors

Intel Corp.

Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association (TMBA)

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

SIMTOS (Seoul International Machine Tool Show)

High-NA-EUVL lithography systems are expected to give Intel a decisive advantage in the production of next-generation chips. The exposure system supplied by ASML to the Intel Foundry in Hillsboro was completed in just under five months. Now it's on to the calibration process - and to dispel the rumors that the technology is too expensive.

In the manufacture of processors, High-NA-EUVL is an exciting technological advancement that allows smaller, more precise structures to be created on chips, leading to more powerful and energy-efficient results. For this, a light wavelength of 13.5 nm is used, which does not naturally occur on Earth. The beams of powerful lasers hit a tin droplet that is over 200,000 degrees Celsius. The light is then reflected by a stencil with the desired circuit pattern and then through a system of precise mirrors.

Innovation in chip manufacturing is important to meet the rising demands of technologies such as artificial intelligence and 5G communication. High-NA-EUVL is also expected to lower production costs and thus increase competitiveness. "Compared to 0.33NA EUV, High NA EUV (or 0.55NA EUV) can deliver a higher imaging contrast for similar features, which allows for less light per exposure, thereby reducing the time required to print each layer and increasing wafer production," is reported by Intel Foundry.

Gallery

Gallery with 5 images

Assembly done, calibration in progress

The first High-NA-EUVL system sold by lithography machine manufacturer ASML was delivered to Intel Foundry in Hillsboro, Oregon in December 2023 and, just under five months later, the device has been fully assembled, as Intel officially announced on April 18, 2024. However, after the assembly work comes the calibration process, which is now being tackled by Intel and ASML employees.

Intel intends to use both 0.33NA EUV and 0.55NA EUV in conjunction with other lithography processes to develop and manufacture advanced chips, starting with product demonstrations for Intel 18A in 2025 and continuing with the production of Intel 14A.

"In combination with Intel Foundry's other leading process technologies, High NA EUV will likely be able to print features up to 1.7 times smaller than existing EUV tools. This allows for the scaling of 2D features and thus a density that is up to 2.9 times higher. Intel continues to lead the development of ever smaller and denser structures that drive Moore's Law in the semiconductor industry," Intel shares.

Intel anticipates cost efficiency

High-NA-EUVL has already been criticized for the cost that could be incurred by chip manufacturers due to the purchase of the systems, the associated renovation of the factories in some cases, and initially lower throughput numbers. While a Low-NA machine costs under 200 million US dollars, a High-NA system comes with a price tag of about 400 million US dollars. However, as far as costs are concerned, Mark Phillips, Director of Lithography Hardware and Solutions at Intel tells Paul Alcorn of Tom's Hardware, these do not catch Intel unprepared.

As previously mentioned, Intel will use different exposure methods. Modern semiconductors consist of multiple layers, each layer having different levels of complexity and different structure sizes. High-NA, as per Intel's plan, will be used only for an unspecified number of critical layers requiring the smallest structure sizes. For other layers, older Low-NA-EUV, 192-nm ArFI, and even 248-nm KrF DUV technologies will be used, the latter being used for the upper interconnect layers with larger features.

"I'd like to add that it's not the case that ASML built this system and then came to us and asked if we wanted to buy it. We started working with ASML over a decade ago and started having these discussions about the business case for the tool," Phillips said. "What are the right trade-offs between tool costs and capabilities to make it a profitable tool? So we were aware of these capabilities, these specifications, and the price, when we made the decision to go for these tools years ago. And really, there were no surprises." (sb)