The future costs of semiconductor lithography

A method for comparing the costs for photoprocessing high volume semiconductor logic and memory wafers is presented. Industry lithographic trends and process structures are discussed and a cost model is applied. Some typical results obtained with optical tooling and x‐ray synchrotron based lithography are discussed for 1/2 μ ground rules. The model consists of two sections; exposure costs and process costs per level. Both areas are addressed and discussed. Equivalent yield has been assumed for all processes. Normalized results done with the model are presented and discussed. Net conclusions are that photo process costs are as great or greater than the exposure costs, and that x‐ray technology with a synchrotron source becomes competitive with optical technologies for large volume applications because of process simplicity. Optical technologies will continue to be used by many manufacturers because of their lower initial investment and evolutionary nature.