Who invented the lithography machine?

The photolithography machine was invented by Frenchman Nicephore Niepce in 1822. At first, Nicephore Niepce discovered a mark that could be engraved on oil paper. When it appeared on a glass sheet, , after a period of exposure to the sun, the light-transmitting parts will become very hard, but the opaque parts can be washed away with rosin and vegetable oil.

The operating environment of this tutorial: Windows 7 system, Dell G3 computer.

Lithography machine (lithography), also known as: mask alignment exposure machine, exposure system, lithography system, etc., is the core equipment for manufacturing chips. It uses a technology similar to photo printing to print the fine patterns on the mask onto the silicon wafer through light exposure.

Who invented the lithography machine

In 1822, Frenchman Nicephore Niepce invented the lithography machine. At first It was Nicephore Niepce who discovered a kind of imprint that can be engraved on oil paper. When it appears on a glass piece, after a period of exposure, the light-transmitting part will become very hard, but it can be used on the opaque part. Rosin and vegetable oil to wash it off.

Although the photolithography machine was invented earlier, it was not used in various industries after its invention. It was not until World War II that the technology was applied to printed circuit boards. The materials used are also very different from those used in early inventions. The use of copper circuits on plastic boards has made circuit boards popular, and in a short period of time they have become one of the most critical materials in many electronic equipment fields. one.

Today, photolithography machines have become the main production equipment for semiconductor production and manufacturing, and also determine the symbol of the level of technology in the entire semiconductor market.

What technologies are needed to manufacture lithography machines?

The manufacturing system of lithography machines is very complex. Two points are crucial, namely precision components and assembly technology.

1. Precision parts

The manufacturing of a photolithography machine requires tens of thousands of precision parts. Generally speaking, the manufacturing of a lithography machine requires about 80,000 precision parts, and the most advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography machine in the world currently requires more than 100,000 manufacturing parts.

A complete set of photolithography machines includes multiple component systems, mainly including exposure systems, automatic alignment systems, complete machine software systems, etc. Among them, the exposure system includes the lighting system and projection objective lens.

Among all the core precision parts that make up optical technology, optical lenses, optical light sources, and dual workbenches can be said to be the core of the core.

Optical lenses with high numerical aperture determine the resolution and threshold error capabilities of the lithography machine. The resolution and registration error capabilities are of vital importance to a lithography machine. The only lens that can be used by the world's most advanced EUV extreme ultraviolet lithography machine is the lens produced by Zeiss.

The wavelength of the light source contained in the optical light source of the lithography machine is an important part of determining the industrial capabilities of the lithography machine. Special attention should be paid to the fact that the light source required by the lithography machine must have the characteristics of small size, high power and stability.

For example, the light source wavelength used by the extreme ultraviolet EUV lithography machine is only 13.5 nanometers of extreme ultraviolet light, and the optical system used is extremely complex.

The workbench system required in the lithography machine can affect the accuracy and productivity during the operation of the lithography machine, and the comprehensive technical difficulty involved is very high. Because this kind of workbench carries silicon wafers, it can complete a series of ultra-precise motion systems during the operation of the lithography machine, including loading and unloading wafers, alignment, circle surface measurement, exposure, etc.

2. Assembly technology

A photolithography machine not only requires precision parts, but the assembly technology of these parts is also crucial.

When all parts are ready, the subsequent assembly process will directly affect the operating performance of a photolithography machine. Nowadays, the production process of the Dutch company ASML (Chinese translation: ASML), the main manufacturer of lithography machines, is essentially more like a parts assembly company, because nearly 90% of the components required by ASML to produce lithography machines are Sourcing from all over the world, it has over five thousand suppliers worldwide.

In other words, the reason why ASML was able to defeat other photolithography machine production rivals such as Nikon and Canon in terms of photolithography machine manufacturing technology, and thus occupy a leading position in the global photolithography machine manufacturing and sales market, is that The important reason is the powerful assembly technology.

A strong photolithography machine assembly company needs to have a variety of skilled workers and various assembly intellectual property rights, so that it can clearly understand how to assemble various precision components, and then use their skilled operations and systems knowledge to quickly and accurately manufacture a photolithography machine.

my country has made great progress in the technology of photolithography machines after nearly two decades of key technological breakthroughs.

In terms of the dual workbench of the lithography machine, the dual workbench jointly developed by China Huazhuo Jingke and the Tsinghua team has broken ASML’s technology monopoly. As for the synchronous light source equipment and optical lens technology of the lithography machine, it has also been It has achieved rapid development through intensive research by nationally renowned scientific research institutions such as Harbin Institute of Technology.

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