High-NA lithography at the turning Point: preparing for industry insertion

Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) continues to make scaling cost effective for chip manufacturers and allows Moore's law to pursue. EUVL entered high volume production in 2019 and the next step in this evolutionary process is the implementation of High NA EUVL with its increased Numerical Aperture (NA) of 0.55, which enables further scaling down to 8nm. The key to unlocking the full potential of High NA EUV lithography lies in the co-optimization of various elements: the scanner, mask, resist stack, and etch. By achieving an optimal synergy between these components, we can ensure the highest performance levels for High NA EUV lithography. This is done in close collaboration with imec’s 40+ equipment and materials suppliers, creating the world’s largest ecosystem around EUV lithography.