Intel announced that it had installed ASML's Twinscan EXE:5200B, the industry's first High-NA lithography tool with 0.55 numerical aperture projection optics made for commercial chip production. The tool has passed acceptance testing and will be used for development of Intel's 14A fabrication process, which will be the world's first node to rely on High-NA EUV scanners for its most critical layers. The achievement indicates that High-NA EUV lithography is moving beyond early experimentation toward high-volume manufacturing (HVM).
ASML's Twinscan EXE:5200B builds on the 1st Generation EXE:5000 platform that Intel received in 2023 for its Oregon R&D fab. The new tool can 'print' chips with an 8nm resolution, enabling scaling beyond which is currently possible with Low-NA EUV tools that offer a 13nm resolution without using multi-patterning. Unlike the EXE:5000, the EXE:5200B is capable of processing 175 wafers per hour at a 50 mJ/cm² dose (up from 185 wafers per hour at at a 20 mJ/cm² dose) and achieves overlay accuracy of 0.7 nanometers, a critical parameter as feature dimensions continue to shrink.
