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ASML
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SEMICON West 2020, July 20-23. The SEMI Americas
Award recognizes technology developments with a
major impact on the semiconductor industry and the
world.
Efforts to extend optical lithography to wavelengths
significantly shorter than ultra-violet began in the
1980s. Since then, integrated circuit feature sizes
decreased from several microns to less than 10 nanometers (nm) today, making the shift to EUV light
essential.
Moving to 13.5 nm wavelengths represented a paradigm shift, extending to all aspects of light generation,
reflective optics, mask technologies, vacuum environment management, wafer stage alignment and a host
of other fields. ASML assembled the EUV Consortium
to collaborate in meeting these challenges and developed EUV production equipment and processes. The
first production system was shipped in 2013 and a total
of 57 systems are currently installed in customer fabs.
“After more than 20 years of sustained R&D by
ASML and its partners, EUV is now being used in
high-volume chip manufacturing,” said Martin van den
Brink, ASML President and Chief Technology Officer,
who accepted the award on behalf of the company.
“Long-term collaboration across this technology’s
value chain, from academic partners to governments
and industry players, has been absolutely crucial to its
success.”
ASML, founded in 1984, employs more than 25,000
people representing more than 120 nationalities in 60
worldwide locations. It has large R&D and manufacturing facilities in San Diego, Calif.; San Jose, Calif.;
and Wilton, Conn.
“Outstanding engineering and industry achievements
should be recognized and honored when they prompt
new and emerging technologies to enhance the semiconductor industry,” said SEMI Americas president
Dave Anderson. “Limitations of UV and immersion-UV lithography presented a barrier for chipmakers
and halted temporarily the downsizing of microelectronics. ASML’s years-long efforts drew supply chain
support as well as customer buy-in, demonstrating that
the industry can tackle major problems when it comes
together.”
“ASML led the effort to develop EUV lithography
capability, enabling a continuation of scaling,” said Bill
Bottoms, chair of the SEMI Americas Awards Advisory
Committee. “The effort involved collaboration with
customers and vendors and other interested parties and
would not have happened without their leadership.”
The highest honor conferred by the SEMI Americas
region, the SEMI Americas Award was established in
1979 to recognize outstanding technical achievement
and meritorious contributions by individuals and teams
in the areas of Semiconductor Materials, Wafer Fabrication, Assembly and Packaging, Process Control,
Test and Inspection, Robotics and Automation, Quality
Enhancement, and Process Integration.
Criteria were expanded in 2009 to include outstanding achievements in developing new and
emerging technologies expected to add significant
future value to the semiconductor industry. Nominations are open to individuals or teams from industry
and academia whose accomplishments have a broad
commercial impact and technical significance for
the semiconductor industry. Nomination guidelines
for 2021 are accepted from individuals or teams with
North American-based SEMI member companies. A
list of past award recipients is available online.
Edwards’ New Chamber Solutions Division
Aims to Release OEM Innovation
B y PETE SINGER, E d i t o r - i n - C h i e f
Edwards, a 100+ year old company
that has traditionally focused on
sub-fab vacuum pumping and gas
abatement systems in the semiconductor industry, further expanded
into on-tool vacuum applications last
year with its acquisition of Brooks’
Semiconductor Cryogenics business.
This added the well known CTI
4 | Tuesday, July 21www.semiconductordigest.com
