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ASML, Carl Zeiss SMT AG confirm availability in 2002 for 193 nm imaging systems

Press release - Veldhoven, the Netherlands, February 21, 2002

First to market with such technology, ASML marked a record year in 2001 with its leading-edge 193 nm technology products, the 200 mm PAS 5500/1100 and the TWINSCAN AT:1100, also for 300 mm wafer fabrication. Both ASML products incorporate a Carl Zeiss SMT AG ArF Starlith 1100 lens, which features the highest numerical aperture (0.75) available in an ArF lens.

 

Martin van den Brink, ASML's executive vice president of marketing and technology, said: "Customers are ordering 193 nm lithography systems and we are shipping them. We can do so because our partner Carl Zeiss has 193 nm lenses available both in quality and quantity."

 

Dr. Hermann Gerlinger, Carl Zeiss Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology's president and CEO, said: "Our production capability can meet any customer demand for 193 nm technology with fast and flexible delivery. Furthermore, our 193 nm lenses have a minimum amount of calcium fluoride, so we are confident about our reliable supply of advanced lenses."

 

In 2001, Carl Zeiss successfully established a manufacturing operation in Oberkochen, Germany, for production of 193 nm lenses, the critical optical technology for ASML's highest numerical aperture 193 nm ArF imaging of next-generation chips at the 0.10 micron line width.

 

ASML's AT:1100 system builds upon the company's successful 300 mm TWINSCAN dual-stage platform and was developed as the industry's first high-productivity ArF lithography system for volume production applications of 300 mm wafers at the 100 nm technology node. The Starlith's improved aberration control reduces influence on critical lithography structures, which enhances the imaging performance.

 

ASML's Martin van den Brink added: "Customer demand for 193 nm imaging solutions is growing and we have sufficient supply. We made a commitment to our customers to provide industry-leading productivity for 100 nm volume manufacturing. We are delivering."

About ASML


ASML is one of the world's leading providers of advanced technology systems for the semiconductor industry. The company offers an integrated portfolio of lithography, track and thermal systems mainly for manufacturing complex integrated circuits. Headquartered in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, ASML is traded on the Euronext Amsterdam and on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol 'ASML'. For 2001, the company reported net sales of over €1.8 billion and employs more than 7,000 people in 50 locations throughout the world.

About Carl Zeiss SMT AG


With a wide-ranging product portfolio, Carl Zeiss SMT AG meets the requirements of the key processes involved in microchip production, making it one of the leading direct and indirect suppliers to the semiconductor industry.

 

As an innovation leader in the field of lithography optics and optical and electron beam-based inspection and measuring systems, SMT AG generates important momentum for further development in the chip industry. Together with its subsidiaries at locations in Germany, UK, US, France and Israel, the international group of companies employs a total workforce of over 1,600 people. The stock corporation emerged from the Semiconductor Technology business group of Carl Zeiss as a 100% subsidiary on October 1, 2001. In the 2000/2001 fiscal year, the former business group achieved a sales figure totaling €464 million. Carl Zeiss SMT AG has three subsidiaries: Carl Zeiss Laser Optics GmbH, Carl Zeiss Microelectronic Systems GmbH and the LEO Group. Further information is available under www.zeiss.de/semiconductor.

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