ASML Forms Special Applications Division, Targets Business Outside Mainstream

News from Semicon Europa, Geneva
Leading edge lithography gets most of the attention at technical conferences and in the press. The leading edge is where companies find the most market visibility and engineers find the most glamorous challenges. Worldwide, 80 percent of stepper sales go to mainstream IC fabrication-design rules of 0.45 micron and smaller. That leaves another 20 percent still unaccounted for, though. These non-mainstream markets include IC applications above 0.45 micron, thin film and magneto-resistive heads for disk drives, micromachining, and non-silicon substrates like GaAs.

Tuesday at Semicon Europa, ASM Lithography (Veldhoven, The Netherlands) announced the formation of a new business division, ASML Special Applications, to pursue these market opportunities. According to Eduard Hoeberichts, managing director of the new division, these applications tend to require customization, for instance to handle thicker substrates or increase depth of focus, and to be driven by cost minimization. Generalizations are difficult though, because this area splits into several discrete market segments with discrete requirements. In contrast, the mainstream IC market tends to be driven by new technology, and can be viewed as a single market.

As Hoeberichts explained, the mainstream and special applications segments are too different for one business unit to serve them both effectively. The new division will function as a standalone business with 20 dedicated engineers and additional support personnel, reporting directly to ASML's president and CEO Willem Maris. "We will be serving new customers with different requirements, and this will require a different approach on our part," Hoeberichts said.

The new division will also target the company's installed base of g- and i-line machines with range of upgrade and option programs. It took responsibility for the existing PAS 5000/45A stepper, an i-line system optimized for 0.7 micron resolution, and the PAS 5000/55A stepper, an i-line system optimized for 0.5 micron resolution.

Most of the mainstream lithography vendors sell systems into these markets. In particular, Nikon (Japan) supplies a thin film head lithography system, and Ultratech Stepper (San Jose, Calif.) concentrates exclusively on "low cost of ownership" exposure tools.

Separately, ASML announced that it will supply a PAS 5500/300 PDT (process development tool) DUV system to Samsung Electronics, Seoul, South Korea. The system, designed for processing 300 mm wafers, will further Samsung's development of 300 mm process technology.

By Katherine Derbyshire

Further Information: ASML Special Applications, De Run 5410, 5504 DE Veldhoven, The Netherlands, Tel: +31 40 230 4637