EUV lithography cost of ownership analysis

Conference · Thu Jan 19 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:86897

Hawryluk, A M; Ceglio, N M

The cost of fabricating state-of-the-art integrated circuits (ICs) has been increasing and it will likely be economic rather than technical factors that ultimately limit the progress of ICs toward smaller devices. It is estimated that lithography currently accounts for approximately one-third the total cost of fabricating modem ICs({sup 1}). It is expected that this factor will be fairly stable for the forseeable future, and as a result, any lithographic process must be cost-effective before it can be considered for production. Additionally, the capital equipment cost for a new fabrication facility is growing at an exponential rate (2); it will soon require a multibillion dollar investment in capital equipment alone to build a manufacturing facility. In this regard, it is vital that any advanced lithography candidate justify itself on the basis of cost effectiveness. EUV lithography is no exception and close attention to issues of wafer fabrication costs have been a hallmark of its early history. To date, two prior cost analyses have been conducted for EUV lithography (formerly called {open_quotes}Soft X-ray Projection Lithography{close_quotes}). The analysis by Ceglio, et. al., provided a preliminary system design, set performance specifications and identified critical technical issues for cost control. A follow-on analysis by Early, et.al., studied the impact of issues such as step time, stepper overhead, tool utilization, escalating photoresist costs and limited reticle usage on wafer exposure costs. This current study provides updated system designs and specifications and their impact on wafer exposure costs. In addition, it takes a first cut at a preliminary schematic of an EUVL fabrication facility along with an estimate of the capital equipment costs for such a facility.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 86897
• Report Number(s): UCRL-JC--119626; CONF-9409177--9; ON: DE95014675
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
42 ENGINEERING
CAPITALIZED COST
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
FABRICATION
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
SPECIFICATIONS