Chinese scientists are researching the next-generation EUV lithography machine, using a light source with a wavelength of 6.7 nm?

In chip manufacturing, the lithography machine is the most core equipment.

And EUV is an essential equipment for manufacturing chips below 7nm, and only ASML in the world can produce it, and the United States does not allow it to be sold to Chinese enterprises.

Therefore, developing a domestic EUV is very important, because without a domestic EUV, our chip process entering below 7nm is almost impossible.

Maybe multiple exposure could be used with immersion lithography machines to also manufacture chips below 7nm, but multiple exposure will significantly reduce yield and increase costs, which is actually not possible for mass commercial production.

Currently, ASML's EUV lithography machines adopt the LPP route, which uses high-energy lasers to hit tin droplets to generate plasma, releasing light with a wavelength of 13.5nm, that is, extreme ultraviolet light.

In this route, ASML has tied up core companies such as Zeiss and Cymer. These core companies are the only ones in the world, irreplaceable. It can be said that ASML has blocked many other companies' EUV paths.

Therefore, if we want to develop EUV lithography machines, a better way is to overtake on a different road or take a detour to overtake.

Recently, there was a report that scientists in China have actually found that the next generation of EUV may use a more advanced light source, such as light with wavelengths of 6.7nm or 4.4nm.

In lithography, the shorter the wavelength of the light, the higher its resolution, and the more advanced the chips it can produce.

Scientists believe that if 6.7nm and 4.4nm light can be used, then its precision will be much higher than the current 13.5nm wavelength, and the chip process it can produce will also be much more advanced.

Currently, Chinese scientists have already started trying to use gadolinium instead of tin as material to excite light with a wavelength of 6.7nm. And the lens of this kind of lithography machine uses lanthanum and boron.

Thus, we can bypass the barriers set by ASML, and avoid core companies such as Zeiss and Cymer, and walk a path of lithography machines unique to China.

However, there are also many difficulties, for example, when the wavelength is shorter, the reflectivity is worse, and collecting these lights is quite difficult. In addition, the shorter the wavelength, the more energy is distributed among fewer photons, so the chance of errors will also increase.

But it cannot be denied that if all of this is truly realized, the domestic lithography machines will skip EUV and enter a higher level, and the lithography machines that have been blocking us will no longer be a problem, and instead, chip factories around the world will have to buy lithography machines from us.

Of course, the technical route from theory to commercial use will have a long process, people need to be patient, and finally whether it can be commercialized is uncertain, but we must keep researching to possibly achieve commercialization eventually. So, let's give more support and encouragement, and less mockery. What do you think?

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7524167718644302346/

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