ZT: GlobalFoundries, Samsung join e-beam group

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Mark LaPedus EE Times (02/23/2010 5:02 PM EST) SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The eBeam Initiative--a forum dedicated to the education and promotion of a new design-to-manufacturing approach known as design for e-beam (DFEB)--has announced that six additional companies have joined the group. New members in the Initiative include the following firms: GlobalFoundries, JEOL, KLA-Tencor, NuFlare Technology, Petersen Advanced Lithography (PAL) and Samsung Electronics. The eBeam Initiative was launched last year. The effort initially had 20 companies from across the chip spectrum, including EDA vendors, ASIC suppliers, makers of e-beam tools, photomask suppliers and others. The group is lead by Direct2Silicon Inc. (D2S) and guided by a formal steering committee that includes Advantest, CEA/Leti, e-Shuttle, Fujitsu Microelectronics and Vistec. The semiconductor industry has long been interested in applications of direct-write e-beam technology, which removes costly photomask sets from the equation and enables patterning of circuitry directly on a wafer. Separately, D2S rolled out its new design for e-beam (DFEB) mask technology for the production of advanced optical photomasks with circular and curvilinear shapes. Used in conjunction with currently available e-beam mask writing equipment, D2S DFEB mask technology reduces the write times for masks containing complex or curvilinear features to enable the extension of 193-nm immersion lithography to the 22-nm node and beyond with practical turnaround time. "This announcement is the latest step in our goal of continuous innovation in order to bridge the gap between design and manufacturing with e-beam technologies," stated Aki Fujimura, president and CEO of D2S, in a statement. "D2S can bring the advantages of our DFEB mask technology to high-volume, leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing applications--and with that we can help the semiconductor industry realize the possibility of cost-effective optical lithography at the 22-nm node."