IMEC and International SEMATECH sign agreement

IMEC and International SEMATECH (ISMT) have announced the signing of an agreement to work together in an advanced technology program aimed at speeding the development of 157nm lithography. In parallel, several col-laboration agreements between IMEC and leading IDMs are also under negotia-tion.Important engineering efforts remain with respect to full-field imaging, uniform reticle and pellicle printability, and resist technology. 157 nm resist technology is now entering a stage of formulation and process development, but critical issues such as the delay stability, line edge roughness and etch resis-tance, need to be resolved before volume use for semiconductor device manufac-turing will be feasible.Much of the required work is planned to come out of the 157 nm IMEC indus-trial affiliation program (IIAP) over the next few years. This program will ramp up to full speed in Q2 of this year, when the world’s first 157nm full-field scanner (ASML Micrascan VII) will become operational at IMEC. IMEC’s program will build on the current state-of-the-art technology. Research will be carried out at IMEC by IMEC employees and industrial assignees from the partner companies and International SEMATECH.Source: PCBnewsline