Cymer qualifies and ships new argon fluoride light source

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cymer, an industry leader in developing lithography light sources used by chipmakers to pattern advanced semiconductor chips, today announced the first shipment of the newly qualified XLR 800ix light source that improves performance and productivity, as well as lowers cost-of-ownership for leading-edge argon fluoride (ArF) immersion lithography systems.

Several leading semiconductor manufacturers received early access upgrades to the XLR 800ix and their performance exceeded specifications, achieving less than two femtometers total bandwidth variation in every exposure field. This is about 10 times better than existing technology used today.

As chipmakers extend the use of ArF immersion light sources with multi-patterning to the sub-10 nm technology nodes, it becomes increasingly critical to reduce variability across all processes. In partnership with chipmakers, Cymer found that lower bandwidth variation can lead to lower critical dimension (CD) variation, which improves patterning performance both within and wafer-to-wafer. The XLR 800ix introduces new bandwidth stabilization technology, enabling an eight times improvement in bandwidth measurement fidelity, which can be used to tightly control bandwidth stability.

"We are seeing a strong pull to upgrade our installed base light sources to the newest configuration because the XLR 800ix's performance far exceeds customers' expectations," said David Knowles, vice president of the product development group at Cymer. "From technology improvements to application enhancements, the XLR 800ix brings together all our strengths into one platform to deliver powerful results for our customers."

The XLR 800ix also delivers productivity and cost-of-ownership improvements, enabling a 33% increase in time between service intervals to 40 billion pulses. This is driven by Cymer's new field-tested chamber and optics modules, which are in production in more than 250 XLR systems. These enhancements also support Cymer's sustainability initiatives, by lowering total system power consumption by several percentage points.

About Cymer
Cymer, an ASML company, is an industry leader in developing lithography light sources, used by chipmakers worldwide to pattern advanced semiconductor chips. Cymer's light sources, and ongoing innovations, are available to all semiconductor and semiconductor equipment companies to enable advanced device manufacturing today and into the future. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California. www.cymer.com  

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward looking statements  relating to the XLR 800ix light source including statements about improved performance and productivity, lower cost of ownership and other benefits for customers. Forward-looking statements do not guarantee future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, including the risk that the light source does not result in the expected performance, productivity and reduced costs and other expected benefits and other risks indicated in the risk factors included in ASML's Annual Report on Form 20-F and other filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this document. We do not undertake to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media Relations Contact:
Brittney Wolff Zatezalo ? Corporate Communications ? +1 858 385 6502 ? San Diego, California, USA

SOURCE Cymer