TSMC selects ASML for industry's first immersion tool order

ASML Holding NV (ASML) today announced it received the industry’s first order for an immersion lithography system from long-term partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). The new tool – ASML’s TWINSCAN XT:1250i – is a high-productivity immersion scanner for production applications. Delivery is slated for Q3 2004. No financial details of the sale are being disclosed.

“ASML is committed to delivering the right tool to the right customer at the right time. We are pleased that TSMC selected ASML’s TWINSCAN systems to enable their immersion technology program,” said Doug Dunn, president and CEO, ASML. “Many of the chip manufacturers with whom we work are interested in immersion as it provides an alternative solution to support their roadmaps and enriches their investments. ASML is pleased to have the technology and know how to make immersion a commercial reality.”

“Immersion technology will increase the process window of our most advanced applications. The XT:1250i allows TSMC to start using immersion technology in a manufacturing environment,” said Dr. Burn Lin, senior director of TSMC’s micropatterning technology division.

The XT:1250i is the immersion version of ASML’s recently announced TWINSCAN XT:1250, geared for advanced production. TSMC will use the XT:1250i to test and develop immersion technology as a volume manufacturing solution. Additionally, ASML has a demonstration / development immersion tool available in its Veldhoven Research and Development Center.

ASML has a unique competitive advantage in immersion techniques due, in part, to the dual-stage design of its TWINSCAN system. Wafer measurement – including focus and overlay – is completed in the dry stage (the metrology station) while the imaging process, using immersion fluid applied between the wafer and the lens, is completed in the other, wet stage (the exposure station). The dual-stage advantage of TWINSCAN systems enables customers to gain the process enhancements of immersion and to continue with familiar and proven metrology.