recently,Intel announced that it has installed ASML's latest TWINSCAN EXE:5200B lithography system, which is the world's first and currently the most advanced second-generation High-NA EUV lithography system and will be used in Intel's 14A node process.Previously, Intel received the first set of High-NA EUV model EXE:5000 at the end of 2023, and completed early technology research and development and talent reserve at the Fab D1X factory in Oregon. The EXE:5200B launched this time has improved productivity and accuracy.
Intel pointed out that in cooperation with ASML, it has successfully demonstrated the technical feasibility of state-of-the-art lithography equipment in providing improved accuracy and productivity, laying the foundation for future high-volume manufacturing of High NA EUV equipment.
According to official information, the EXE:5200B's production capacity under standard conditions can reach 175 wafers per hour, but Intel plans to push the output rate to more than 200 wafers per hour through further system adjustments.
The new system is also based on Intel's experience in using High-NA EUV lithography equipment in the past year and has improved the overlay accuracy to 0.7nm.
Intel said that High-NA EUV lithography equipment is an important capability in its wafer foundry, combining its own skills in related fields such as masking, etching, resolution enhancement and metrology to achieve the finer transistor details required for today's chips.
