Dear Reader,
2017 was a tremendous year for the semiconductor industry and a special one for Nikon, as we celebrated our 100th anniversary. Since its establishment, Nikon has delivered innovative solutions based on optical and precision technologies to benefit society. In this past year we’ve been determined to “Unlock the future with the power of light,” in the semiconductor industry.
Nikon Precision kicked off this year by hosting our 15th annual LithoVision symposium, where experts from GLOBALFOUNDRIES, IC Knowledge LLC, Intel, Seagate Technology, and more shared invaluable insight on “Solutions for an Application-driven World.” Industry specialists accentuated troublesome EUV stochastic resist effects and the importance of ArF immersion on-product overlay (OPO) control. Nikon technologists discussed the industry-leading NSR-S635E immersion scanner, which delivers unprecedented OPO and can be integrated with the revolutionary inline Alignment Station (iAS) module to improve alignment without impacting scanner productivity.
LithoVision presenters emphasized that i-line, KrF, ArF and immersion lithography play a substantial role in NAND, DRAM, and logic device processing, as well as in fields like hard disk drive production. Nikon previewed our deep product portfolio and shared exceptional overlay and productivity data for the S322F (ArF) and S220D (KrF) scanners, in addition to the SF155 i-line stepper. All of these systems are compatible with the LithoBooster Standalone Alignment Station.
This eReview features many LithoVision presentations, and spotlights Nikon initiatives focusing on customer support, internal training, and supporting next-generation and women in engineering programs, all vital to our continued success. We welcome your feedback on ways we can improve our products, programs, or services at npicom@nikon.com.