SAN FRANCISCO--Nano-imprint lithography holds great promise in the areas of biotechnology, MEMS, semiconductors, and other sectors, but the technology also faces some major hurdles, according to the keynote speaker at the first-ever Nanoimprint and Nanoprint Technology (NNT) conference here today.
Nano-imprint lithography is a new and "disruptive" technology. Tools based on the technology do not utilize an optical lens, but rather it makes use of ultraviolet (UV) and liquid immersion techniques to enable or "imprint" patterns on a wafer.
It is also a possible threat to current next-generation lithography (NGL) efforts, such as electron-projection lithography (EPL) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV), said Roger Fabian Pease, a professor at the department of electrical engineering at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
Suppliers of nano-imprint lithography tools "are getting features down to 20-nm," Pease said. "If the EUV guys were doing that, it would be on the front page of the New York Times," he joked during his keynote at NNT event here today.
Joking aside, Pease pointed out that current NGL technologies face several major problems, thereby opening the door for nano-imprint lithography in the marketplace. "We know the EUV guys are having trouble getting a source," he said. "The EPL guys are having trouble with electrons flying apart."
This is not to say that nano-imprint is a slam-dunk. In fact, tool suppliers still face three problems: photomask, overlay, and inspection, he said.
Given that this technology utilizes a 1X reduction ratio, the ability to develop and supply cost-effective masks will remain an issue. "If we're going to get e-beams to market with 1X mask, then we must get the focal points down on the tools," he said. "Most of the e-beams are also stuck with a throughput problem."
Inspection is another issue. "The current KLA machines are not set up for nano-imprint technology yet," he said, referring to wafer-inspection giant KLA-Tencor Corp.
Still, there are some major breakthroughs in the market. Paving the way for a new class of applications, startup Molecular Imprints Inc. (MII) of Austin, Tex. recently unveiled its first product--a tool aimed at the emerging "nano-imprint" lithography market, (see Dec. 2 story ). And other nano-imprint startups are going after the NGL market with tools said to process chips at 10-nm (see Dec. 6 story ).
RSS
Digital
HDD roadmap:
The hard disk drive (HDD) industry finds its lifeblood in a technology roadmap. The areal density roadmap describes the number of magnetic bits per unit area on the disk platter--thereby defining the storage capacity.
10 CEOs out in 2009:
It's been a tough year for the global electronics industry and CEOs. We survey the dismissal of 10 industry CEOs during the first three quarters of 2009 and what's ahead for the rest of the year.
Top 10 IC vendors with cash:
The world's biggest IC companies by revenue rank not only among the best in their respective industry segments but are also more likely to have huge piles of cash that can be used to fund acquisitions, R&D and product development
10 companies in trouble (revisited):
What follows is an updated version of 10 companies in trouble. Some companies have been removed since the last version, others remain. Still others have been added to the mix.
MIPS to go after the cellphone?:
ARM dominates the global cell phone market, and many industry observers scoff at MIPS as a viable player in mobile phone designs. But MIPS disclosed that over the next one or two years' time, there will be MIPS-based handsets shipped.
Hot technologies to watch for in 2009:
Every technologist, marketer, industry analyst and reporter on a hunt for the next big thing is bracing for the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show scheduled less than a month away.
Notable women in microelectronics
EE Times has compiled an international list that celebrates women who are business and technology leaders in microelectronics.
EE Times updates Silicon 60
Seventeen companies have been added to the lastest version of our Silicon 60 list of emerging startups. Forty-three companies survived as emerging companies that are still worth watching.
RSS| 
Digital| 
Mobile
