ST joins CEA-Leti e-beam litho program

STMicroelectronics has joined CEA-Leti's three-year e-beam program that allows companies to assess a maskless lithography infrastructure for IC manufacturing and the use of Mapper Technology for high-throughput.

The multiple e-beam lithography program covers a global approach to the technology, including tool assessment, patterning and process integration, data handling, prototyping and cost analysis.

"STMicroelectronics has been working for more than a decade with CEA-Leti on maskless lithography. Together, ST and CEA-Leti have established a full shaped-beam capability on ST's Crolles pilot line and demonstrated the insertion of e-beam technology in a standard CMOS process flow," said Jo锟絣 Hartmann, silicon-technology development director for ST at Crolles, France. "Joining the Imagine program is a logical step for ST to get access to a maskless lithography possible solution for future technology nodes."

"The Imagine program will benefit from the strong knowledge and support of STMicroelectronics in maskless technology," said Laurent Malier, CEO, Leti. "The experience of CEA-Leti in e-beam technology has been strengthened over the years by this partnership with ST for using e-beam for advanced technology demonstrators. With STMicroelectronics supporting the Imagine program, we are convinced we will succeed to make maskless lithography a viable solution."