PLAINVIEW, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq:VECO) announced today that its new
Odyssey™ Ion Beam Deposition (IBD) Upgrade for the NEXUS® IBD-LDD™
System has repeatedly produced photomask blanks with zero deposition
defects larger than 70 nanometers. This represents a significant
milestone toward the manufacture of semiconductor devices with advanced
extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.
EUV mask blank defects are, as a practical matter, impossible to repair
and can render a semiconductor device useless. Because of this, mask
blank defects have been a key obstacle toward high volume manufacturing.
Veeco’s low-defect Odyssey IBD technology clears the way for further EUV
manufacturing advancements for semiconductor devices.
“EUV lithography brings chipmakers the ability to manufacture higher
performing devices at lower cost compared to manufacturing methods which
rely on multiple patterning steps,” said Ron Kool, Senior Vice President
of EUV Product and Service Marketing at ASML. “As ASML is making steady
progress preparing the scanner and light source for industrial high
volume manufacturing, the readiness of the EUV industry, including mask
blanks, is critically important to our customers. Veeco’s dedication to
the Odyssey upgrade program, done in coordination with customers,
consortia, and other industry stakeholders, is a model for EUV
infrastructure advancements.”
Veeco IBD technology leads the industry in high film quality, featuring
extremely low particulate deposition and precise control of optical
properties for single or multi-layer processes. These technology
features are required for defect-free, high volume EUV manufacturing.
Currently, all of the leading EUV mask blank manufacturers use the Veeco
NEXUS IBD-LDD system.
“Veeco is committed to working with our customers and industry partners
to advance the EUV roadmap and increase the output of defect-free mask
blanks,” said Jim Northup, Senior Vice President and General Manager of
Veeco Advanced Deposition & Etch. “We have made significant investments
in the Odyssey upgrade and consolidated our optical coating and ion beam
resources in a single R&D site to ensure ongoing development of our
industry-leading IBD technology.”
About Ion Beam Deposition Systems for EUV
Photomasks
Ion beam deposition tools are used in the fabrication of EUV masks. The
nanometer-scale patterns on masks are projected onto a semiconductor
wafer to define a chip. A single mask may be used to print millions of
chips during its life, requiring strict mask defect control.
Advanced-technology EUV masks are used to define chips with smaller
geometries, which results in improved power and performance as required
for an increasing number of mobile devices.
About Veeco
Veeco’s process equipment solutions enable the manufacture of LEDs,
flexible OLED displays, power electronics, hard drives, MEMS and
wireless chips. We are the market leader in MOCVD, MBE, Ion Beam and
other advanced thin film process technologies. Our high performance
systems drive innovation in energy efficiency, consumer electronics and
network storage and allow our customers to maximize productivity and
achieve lower cost of ownership. For information on our company,
products and worldwide service and support, please visit www.veeco.com.
To the extent that this news release discusses expectations or
otherwise makes statements about the future, such statements are
forward-looking and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements
made. These factors include the risks discussed in the Business
Description and Management's Discussion and Analysis sections of Veeco's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 and in
our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form
8-K and press releases. Veeco does not undertake any obligation
to update any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or
circumstances after the date of such statements.
Source: Veeco Instruments Inc.