Gigaphoton Begins Mass Production and Shipment of the ArFi GT66A Light Source Compatible With Cutting-Edge Miniaturization Technologies

Equipped with New Technologies to Accelerate a Technological Shift

OYAMA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GIGAPHOTON Inc. (Head office: Oyama, Tochigi; President & CEO: Katsumi Uranaka), a manufacturer of light sources for semiconductor lithography, has announced the start of mass production and shipment of the ArF immersion "GT66A" light source using new technologies for state-of-the-art semiconductor lithography manufacturing.

Leading-edge device manufacturing has now begun with the process development of 3 nm nodes for logic devices and mass production of 1 Znm DRAM. For these ultra-fine devices, reducing the roughness of the exposure patterns transferred to wafers is a challenge. It is important to reproduce the circuit pattern precisely and increase the yield in mass production.

The new ArF immersion "GT66A" light source is equipped with a newly developed optical module that successfully improves the beam uniformity on the exposed surface and reduces the roughness by increasing the temporal coherence length by at least 3 times that of the existing model. The maintenance cycle of the module has been extended by 30% with the introduction of the latest components with high durability.

GT66A is now certified as a light source for the latest ArF immersion lithography equipment NXT:2050i by ASML, the leading Dutch company, and mass production and shipment of the light source to end-users will now commence.

Katsumi Uranaka, President and CEO of GIGAPHOTON, said: "In recent years, semiconductor chips are required to support even faster communication speeds and process larger amounts of data. This is mainly supported by the miniaturization of logic and memory semiconductors and requires higher productivity through further innovation of lithography technology. GIGAPHOTON will continue its contribution to the development of the next generation of industries by improving the imaging performance through technological innovation and increasing the availability of light sources."

About GIGAPHOTON

Since it was founded in 2000, GIGAPHOTON has delivered valuable solutions to semiconductor manufacturers throughout the world as a laser supplier. In every stage from R&D to manufacture, sales, and maintenance services, GIGAPHOTON is committed to providing world-class support delivered from the perspective of everyday users. For more information please visit https://www.gigaphoton.com/en/