Firms focus on EUV

The Swedish manufacturer of an EUV light source has set its sites on selling the system to major stepper manufacturers for use in next-generation lithography tools. Stockholm-based Innolite says ASML, Canon, and Nikon have shown keen interest in the company's plasma light source. The source operates at 13.5 nm, and its cryogenic liquid jet xenon technology is designed to minimize damage to the precision optics caused by nozzle erosion and debris, according to Innolite. The company points to efforts led by Intel and others to develop EUV lithography for chips with 70-nm features and smaller. Innolite claims its source is perfectly suited for this purpose. The technology was developed by Professor Hans Hertz and colleagues in the Department of Physics at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. Hertz co-founded the company in 2000 with backing from Itact, a Swedish venture capital firm.

Meanwhile, Lambda Physik and Jenoptik Laser Optik Systeme have formed a joint venture called Xtreme Technologies to develop EUV radiation sources. Each firm has a 50% stake in the venture, which will have plants in two German cities, Göttingen and Jena. Xtreme will develop electrically excited discharge plasmas and laser-produced plasma sources for 248- , 193- , 157- , and 13.5-nm microlithography. Lambda Physik specializes in gas discharge and pulsed circuit technologies as well as excimer and solid-state laser systems. Jenoptik Laser makes solid-state lasers and related optics. Uwe Stamm, former head of Lambda's science and medicine division, and Henry Birner, former head of business development at Jenoptik Laser, will co-manage Xtreme. The first prototypes of EUV beam sources will be ready for installation at beta sites in 2002.

Scottish mask plant folds

DuPont Photomasks (DPI) closed its plant in Hamilton, Scotland, on May 31 as part of a restructuring plan. Based in Round Rock, TX, DPI will shift production to 10 other photomask plants around the world. Orders will not be disrupted by the closure, DPI says. The company opened the Scotland site in 1997 to serve the growing U.K. semiconductor industry, but delays and outright cancellations of fab construction in the region reduced DPI's customer base. "The total available market for photomasks in the U.K. is less than 10% of the total European region," notes Peter Kirlin, chairman and CEO. "As such, we have concluded that we can more cost-effectively serve our customers in the European market from our three large facilities in France and Germany, thereby improving productivity and profitability." DPI expects to save approximately $2.5 million in annualized operating expenses beginning in the first quarter of FY2002. The company will lay off an undisclosed number of employees as a result of the decision.