Veeco selected by Sematech for $2.4 million EUV lithography tool development
Sematech and the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering ("CNSE") of the University at Albany have announced that International Sematech North ("ISMTN") has selected Veeco Instruments for an additional $2.4 million project that will provide critical research and development necessary to enable extreme ultraviolet ("EUV") lithography for advanced manufacturing.
Veeco will receive the funding from Sematech to further develop its Ion Beam Deposition Tool, which is part of ISMTN's Mask Blank Development Centre ("MBDC"), located at the CNSE CENN. Since International Sematech North's inception in 2002, Veeco has received nearly $19 million in funding for Ion Beam products and R&D programs.
Ion Beam Deposition tools are used in the fabrication of mask blanks – the base material for the stencil-like photomasks that are used to inscribe patterns on nanoelectronics wafers – and is essential for the deposition of ultra-thin layers of materials that are demanded in the EUV manufacturing process.
Sematech President and CEO Michael R. Polcari said, "As Sematech pushes aggressively to ready extreme ultraviolet lithography for advanced manufacturing, our ability to work with the statewide infrastructure of nanoelectronics-focused, world-class companies throughout New York is critical to our success. This latest project with Veeco, in concert with the hundreds of New York companies we are working with, is serving to accelerate the research and development that is vital both to the future of EUV lithography and the global nanoelectronics industry."
CNSE Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Dr. Alain E. Kaloyeros said, "As a key anchor tenant of the New York State Centre of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology and the UAlbany NanoCollege, Sematech has worked hand in hand with the NanoCollege to nurture and build a statewide network of hundreds of New York companies to advance high-tech research, development, and commercialization initiatives. In the process, the SEMATECH-CNSE partnership is building a nanotech-savvy culture and network of highly trained people and competitive companies that will play a critical role in attracting future high-tech jobs, investment and economic growth throughout New York State."
Robert P. Oates, Executive Vice President, Veeco Process Equipment, commented, "Veeco's NEXUS LDD Ion Beam Deposition System continues to demonstrate the ability to provide not just low defect density deposition, but also the precise control required for critical work such as EUV photomask deposition. We are pleased to continue working on this important research with Sematech through its International Sematech North program at the New York State Centre of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology at Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. We are also grateful to Governor Spitzer and the State of New York for the significant investments in university research and high technology commercialization."
Since 2002, ISMTN has also provided approximately $10 million to a number of universities in New York to fund research programs with high potential for significant outcomes in knowledge creation and dissemination, and to produce Ph.D. and M.S.-level scientists and researchers to staff the expanding nanoelectronics cluster in New York.
