Lithography, A New Milestone

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In Multibeam's view, today can be called a milestone for the global semiconductor industry, as they have today launched the MB Platform,-the world's first multicolumn e-beam lithography (MEBL) that can make chip factories better.

According to reports, its new lithography system, which is essential for printing patterns on chips, is a system built for mass production. Fully automated precision patterning technology will be used in rapid prototyping, advanced packaging, high-mix production, chip ID, compound semiconductors, and other applications. Multibeam says the newly released platform will revolutionize electron beam lithography (EBL) with new productivity benefits, while enabling high resolution, fine features, a wide field of view, and a large depth of field

But in fact, Multibeam's technology seems to have been abandoned by the industry? Let's take a look at what kind of waves they want to make.

The Third Option to Do Chips

Looking at the current chip production, there are three main school options, namely ASML's EUV-type equipment, nanoimprint and multi-beam direct writing, which are now widely used.

Among them, EUV lithography technology has been widely introduced before, so we will not carry it out in depth. But what we need to understand is that with the miniaturization of the chip process, the development and production costs of the lithography machine, and even the mask and photoresist will become an obstacle to the continued progress of lithography technology, but with the research and development and promotion of the past few decades, this has become the mainstream production method.

Since the 1990s, NIL has been in a research and development phase similar to the stamping process. Initially, the electron beam system forms a pattern on the template according to a predefined design. Then, a resist is applied to a separate substrate. The patterned template is pressed onto the substrate to form a pattern on the substrate with feature sizes as low as 5nm or even smaller. In terms of applications, NIL is divided into two camps: memory and others. Among them, Canon has been developing NIL systems designed for the production of NAND flash and other types of memory for some time in the past.

However, for NIL, it faces challenges such as overlay, defect rate, and yield, which prevent NIL from becoming a mainstream technology. "Imprint lithography is a contact patterning method. Imprint lithography is used in applications that are tolerant of defects. Analysts emphasize. Multi-beam write-through is another option. Like nanoimprint, this is not really a new technology.

Back in the 80s of the 20th century, IBM developed this direct-write lithography technology. In principle, multi-beam direct writing uses an accelerated electron beam to characterize features smaller than 10 nanometers on a substrate coated with an electron beam-sensitive photoresist. Exposure to an electron beam alters the solubility of the photoresist, enabling selective removal of exposed or unexposed areas of the photoresist by immersing the photoresist in the developer.

Because there is no need for expensive photomasks, the direct writing technique is attractive. However, the throughput of single-beam electron beam lithography is too slow and too costly for high-volume IC production. Analysts also bluntly say that the real problem with straight writing is throughput. Writing directly into lithography, even if there are hundreds of thousands or even millions of beams, is too slow for wafer lithography.

As a result, single-beam direct-write tools can only be used for niche applications such as compound semiconductors and photonics. Early players including KLA, Mapper, exits that exit, and those who are acquired are acquired.

But Multibeam remains confident. With MEBL technology, they hope to revive this decades-old technology. According to the founders of Multibeam, it's like having the speed of a printing press or 3D printer, but with the customization flexibility and adaptability of a pencil.

David K. Lam, CEO and chairman of Multibeam, said in an interview that Multibeam can make some parts of chip manufacturing 100 times more productive than existing systems.

A Game-changing Device

In Multibeam's opinion, this is a game-changer. According to reports, in order to solve the throughput problem in the production process, Multibeam uses multiple micro columns, which can be operated separately and in parallel, and equipped with advanced control systems.

According to reports, the company's team designed the platform from the beginning to enable mass production, and more than 40 patents protect these innovations. In addition to a multi-column vector write architecture that improves productivity, accuracy, and speed, the platform provides automated wafer loading and alignment from cassette to in-system exposure process..

In addition, an automated vacuum recovery system and a quick column change process and calibration technology optimize uptime. Advanced automation features reduce operator requirements and further improve system cost of ownership.

As a maskless lithography solution, the platform offers other advantages. Developing an optical mask can take weeks, whereas with the MB platform, it only takes hours to complete the design. This provides manufacturers with greater IC design freedom while reducing costs and accelerating time to market.

To further enhance design flexibility, the platform leverages technology from EDA leader Synopsys to generate write recipes, enabling customers to achieve the most complex patterns. With a powerful, built-in data preparation system developed in conjunction with Synopsys, the system writes die layouts directly to the wafer without the need for masks.

"We've basically reinvented electron beam lithography," says Lam. "We are well aware that it has been neglected for decades. People think it's too slow. If I'm not being ridiculed, then I'm lucky. To your credit, however, this team has really put a lot of effort into every aspect to develop features that are not possible with (competitor's) optical technology. "

Ken MacWilliams, president of Multibeam, said that specialized silicon can help chip designers get products to market faster. With packaging innovation, chip design companies like Nvidia can put two chips in the same package and have them work together as if they were one chip. This helps to improve performance.

Finally, due to its small footprint, the system has lower power requirements and requires less fab space. Its modular design makes it easy to add modules based on the needs of new applications or higher throughput. In addition, it is completely self-contained and does not require a special environment, which further reduces costs. The system is available in 150mm, 200mm, and 300mm configurations.

At this time, Multibeam has not disclosed the highest resolution physical definition it is capable of achieving, nor how many beams can run independently in the MB platform. However, they say that their individual beams run at 5kV. The company also claims that its MB platform is 10x higher than optical laser definition and 100x higher than optical lithography in terms of depth of focus and field of view.

"We are excited to launch the MB platform and are proud to send our first production system to SkyWater," said Lam. "The growth of the semiconductor industry continues to be driven by exciting new applications, with advanced lithography driving endless innovation. At the same time, markets such as AI and edge computing are skyrocketing, driven by specialized silicon and advanced packaging, and manufacturers are top priorities for fast learning cycles and a cost-effective, seamless transition to production to accelerate time to market. For these emerging markets, the MB platform provides complementary lithography solutions and expands the range of lithography options available to IC leaders. Lam continued.

Advanced Packaging is the Target?

Although EBL is valued for its patterning capabilities, low production volumes limit its ability to move emerging applications from R&D to production. As the MB platform evolves, new applications emerge that place technical, economic, and time-to-market requirements that can be addressed with non-mask-based lithography solutions.

 

"This dynamic reinforces our belief that an EBL system that has been redesigned to improve productivity can be used for the first time at an advanced node," said MacWilliams. "The performance benefits are particularly compelling in advanced packaging, where our systems can improve chip-to-chip power as well as bandwidth and latency. This helped drive what the industry is beginning to call the 'advanced integration' of new technologies, where new chip-to-chip interconnects can achieve comparable performance to on-chip interconnects."

"We are proud to enable this transformation with production-proven lithography solutions and are confident that our system will help chipmakers capture lucrative new market opportunities," added MacWilliams. He further noted that specialized silicon wafers can help chip designers get products to market faster. With packaging innovation, chip design companies like Nvidia can put two chips in the same package and have them work together as if they were one chip. This helps to improve performance.

"We've got to admit that Moore's Law is over," Lam said. "ASML's roadmap shows that transistor density will only increase by a maximum of 0.7 times over the next 12 to 14 years. Therefore, the only way to really reap the benefits is to stitch more chips together. As a result, this puts a lot of pressure on advanced packaging. We have an interesting graph, and to our credit, Moore's Law has increased transistor density by a factor of 20 in the last 500 years. The advanced packaging is only 15 times better. "

What do you think about the future of Multibeam?