Preface to the Second Edition
I am delighted to share with readers this second edition of EUV Lithography
(EUVL) from SPIE Press. EUVL is the next-generation lithography (NGL)
currently finding its way into fabs for advanced computer chip making. This
book is intended for people involved in one or more aspects of EUVL as well as
for students, who will find this text equally valuable. This book covers the
fundamental and latest status of all aspects of EUVL used in the field. It
thoroughly covers currently used techniques and equipment plus related topics,
including light sources, optics, masks, photoresists, contamination, imaging, and
scanners. Each of these aspects of EUVL is an area of expertise in itself, but the
implications of each area affect the applications of others. Hence, I recommend
that those involved in one aspect of EUVL refer to this book’s chapters on
other topics to understand the full implications of each technology.
During the nine years since SPIE Press published the first edition of
EUV Lithography, much progress been made in the development of EUVL
as the choice technology for NGL. In 2008, EUVL was a prime contender to
replace 193-nm-based optical lithography in leading-edge computer chip
making, but not everyone was convinced of this at that point. Switching from
193-nm to 13.5-nm wavelengths was a much bigger jump than the industry
had previously attempted. This step brought several difficult challenges in all
areas of lithography—light source, scanner, mask, mask handling, optics,
optics metrology, resist, computation, materials, and optics contamination.
These challenges have been effectively resolved, and several leading-edge
chipmakers have announced dates, starting in 2018, for inserting EUVL into
high-volume manufacturing.
The development of scanners has been equally challenging. Although
EUVL development started in the early 1980s, by 2008 only two alpha-level
scanners were in the field, and beta-level scanners were still several years out.
Today, more than 14 production- and pre-production-level EUVL scanners are
in fabs. This year alone, six production-level EUVL scanners have been shipped
to several leading-edge chipmakers, and the current backlog of orders for
EUVL scanners is almost two dozen. After decades of intense development and
investment, EUVL has now achieved technical and commercial success as the
leading NGL technology. This book, strengthened by the insights of many
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