Kikuo Hayakawa , NOST Tokyo (Innovatie Attaché Netwerk Tokio)
Origineel gepubliceerd op de site van RVO.
Op 15 februari 2016 maakte TNO bekend dat het een samenwerking aangaat met de toonaagevende Japanse lichtbronproducent USHIO. Het strategische partnerschap heeft als oogmerk om samen te werken aan de ontwikkeling van extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithografie. TNO en USHIO bouwen samen een nieuwe faciliteit om ontaminatie-effecten te testen en analyseren tijdens EUV belichting. De nieuwe faciliteit zal EBL2 heten, en staat straks in Delft. Met de nieuwe onderzoeksfaciliteit is de verwachting dat de ontwikkeling van de nieuwe generatie lithografie-systemen en compnenten kan worden versneld. TNO beoogt de faciliteit in januari 2017 gereed te hebben.
Zie ook: TNO
On 15 February 2016, a Japanese leading light source manufacturer USHIO Inc. and TNO announced that they have established a strategic partnership aiming to enable development of extreme ultra-violet (EUV) Lithography for next generation semiconductor manufacturing (1-2). TNO and Ushio will build a new experimental EUV exposure and analysis facility, called EBL2, in the Netherlands. According to TNO, it plans to complete it in January 2017. EBL2 will support the common goal of understanding of contamination effects on surface s under all extreme ultraviolet radiation conditions foreseen in the power roadmap for upcoming lithography tools. This will speed up the development of next-generation lithography systems, masks, and pellicles. USHIO will provide its high-intensity Sn LDP (Laser-assisted Discharged-produced Plasma) EUV light source for EBL2, which can achieve intensity and output of the source approximately five to ten times higher than that of Xenon. Therefore it improves the throughput of EUV mask inspection associated with the next-generation EUV lithography which plans to be adopted in and after 2017. EUV mask technology is critical for the commercialization of EUV lithography and the development of EUV mask inspection tools such as actinic blank inspection and actinic pattern inspection. USHIO aims at providing substantial support to the mask inspection process at device manufacturers and mask makers by delivering its inspection light sources to mask inspection equipment manufacturers. USHIO already presented the paper related EUV light source at the conference “SPIE Advanced Lithography 2016”, held on 21-25 February 2016 in San Jose, California, USA (3).
TNO and Embassy
As TNO is active to collaborate with new partners in this field, TNO and the Innovation Attaché network at the Royal Netherlands Embassy Tokyo have been in close contact to help TNO to link new Japanese potential partners. For an example in 2015, the Embassy arranged a bilateral meeting with several Japanese companies such as using a chance of TNO’s Japan visit to a technical expo Photomask Japan in Yokohama in April 2015 and also a chance of Japanese companies’ visit to EUVL Symposium in Maastricht in October 2015.
Figure 1. Ms. Marring, CFO of TNO and Mr. Matsubara, CEO of Ushio Europe B.V. (source: TNO and USHIO)
Sources:
- TNO and USHIO establish partnership to enable development of next-generation lithography components
- Business Wire: USHIO will deliver first high-intensity EUV light source unit to TNO
- SPIE Advanced Lithography 2016:
