SEMATECH, a global
consortium of chipmakers, announced today that it has signed a Letter of Intent
(LOI) with Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd. (TOK), a leading manufacturer of photoresists,
establishing the groundwork for a joint development agreement on collaborative
efforts to optimize and develop new advanced imaging materials for extreme ultraviolet
(EUV) lithography.
As a Resist member of SEMATECH’s lithography program, TOK will collaborate
with experts at SEMATECH’s EUV Resist and Materials Development Center
(RMDC) at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University
at Albany to develop and demonstrate advanced EUV photoresist for use at the
22 nm node and beyond.
“This LOI sets out the framework for a new level of collaboration between
SEMATECH and TOK on next generation EUVL technologies,” said John Warlaumont,
vice president of advanced technologies, SEMATECH. “We believe that the
ability and experience of TOK combined with SEMATECH’s expertise in EUV
photoresist will accelerate our progress in tackling key challenges –
such as resolution, line-width roughness, and pattern collapse – in the
critical area of advanced imaging.”
“As the world-class research and development capabilities at the UAlbany
NanoCollege enable critical advances in EUV technology, the addition of TOK
to the SEMATECH-CNSE partnership will serve to enhance and expand those efforts,”
said Richard Brilla, vice president for strategy, alliances and consortia at
CNSE. “We are delighted to welcome TOK to CNSE’s Albany NanoTech,
where it joins the growing number of worldwide corporate partners who recognize
New York’s global leadership in nanoscale education, innovation and economic
development.”
Over the past year, significant advances in EUV resists have been enabled by
SEMATECH's EUV RMDC through its two micro-exposure tools (METs) located at the
CNSE and at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Through SEMATECH's EUV resist
development program, engineers and resist suppliers have made significant progress
in improving resist resolution; the most recent results have demonstrated 22
nm half-pitch resolution.
The goal of SEMATECH’s RMDC is to provide world-class exposure capability
and serve as the leading center for supplier resist and materials research to
enable 22 nm patterning technologies and beyond. As part of its ongoing effort
to create flexible participation options for materials and equipment manufacturers,
SEMATECH has opened its resist program to participation from companies such
as TOK, to enable broader and deeper partnerships for advanced materials development.