ASML's Lithography Plant

[Sparweb]

So I've never seen this stuff stripped to the bones, never realized what was hidden inside.

This looks like it was made from a solid block of aluminum 10 meters on two sides, and more than a meter thick. WOW.
The implications to make something like that, and the difficulties that must be overcome, are really hard to think about.
I bet there's a tight tolerance on all of those bolt holes, too.

This photo is from a recent MIT Technology Review article, for those who subscribe:

https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/10/27/1037118/moores-law-computer-chips/

(The comment about Moore's law is just clickbait for nerds like me)

 

[itsmoked]

Probably something to do with mask exposure. At those mask dimensions you can't have anything vibrating. Maybe heavy stiff for that.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[waross]

Is this the link to Moore's Law?

--------------------
Ohm's law
Not just a good idea;
It's the LAW!

 

[Sparweb]

Yes,
It's pay-walled though.
The article is about chip mfg in general, with some highlight on this machine. It makes a pretty picture, too, of course.

You don't need to subscribe to the magazine to get a lot from ASML themselves:

https://www.asml.com/en/technology/lithography-principles

 

[waross]

Thanks for sharing that Spar. I was able to read some interesting information before the pay-wall cut-off.

--------------------
Ohm's law
Not just a good idea;
It's the LAW!

 

[IRstuff]

Not just that, but UV lithography had gone from a "1-um is the death of UV lithography" back in the late 70s to going down to 5-nm feature sizes, albeit with double or triple the number of photolithographic masks per physical layer, through people like ASML, Canon, etal. E-beam lithography was going to take over the world in the 80s; just goes to show how hard it is to get people to change the way they do things.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

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[analogkid2digitalman]

Their EUV stepper is a very impressive and massive machine, I have seen one up close at one of their facilities.
Our company makes the critical nozzle that ejects the tin droplets.

-AK2DM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's the questions that drive us"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[itsmoked]

Tin droplets that are hit by a laser to emit UV?

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[IRstuff]

Sure, somewhat better than the x-ray lithography systems a company across the street tried to develop and sell in 1986, but went bankrupt because the lithography guys refused to leave UV behind.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[Compositepro]

My company used to supply the high temperature adhesive for the tin nozzle assembly of the EUV Laser. About one drop per nozzle. Not a big seller.

 

[IRstuff]

Just for some context, it was reported on Marketplace that Samsung is building a semiconductor plant in the US to the tune of $7B!!!??? WTF? I remember when we thought we could build a small fab for about $40M in 1987.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[itsmoked]

So they're building a cheap fab?

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[itsmoked]

IR; Look again. You dropped a "1". Please do not set any missile targeting numbers. The plant is going to cost $17B

That's in Taylor Texass (centralish) 30mi from Austin where they have another large fab called Fab1 built in 1996. Samsung is the 2nd largest semiconductor fab company.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com