Samsung Electronics develops EUV thin Films with 88% Light transmittance

Thank you, Mr. Air, a netizen of CTOnews.com, for your clue delivery! CTOnews.com, January 15 (Xinhua) the mask protection film / film is a key component in the EUV lithography process, which refers to a thin film unfolded on the mask and then a machine is used to draw the circuit to be imprinted on the wafer in order to protect the mask from dust or volatile gases in the air and reduce mask damage. The field is still dominated by Dutch ASML and Japan's Mitsui Chemistry. Those who come from behind, such as South Korea's Stiles Tech, are also one of the main suppliers.

Samsung Electronics has independently developed EUV films with a light transmittance of up to 88 per cent, helping to diversify and stabilize the supply chain, South Korean media ETNews reported. It has been confirmed that this 88% light transmittance EUV film product can already be mass-produced.

▲ EUV film (pellicle) image source: ASMLCTOnews.com learned that Samsung Electronics announced its own development of EUV thin film at 2021 Foundry Forum last year, when it publicly announced that it had developed 82% light transmittance film technology and announced that it would have a mass production system with 88% light transmittance by 2022.

It is worth mentioning that the South Korean company Stiles Tech successfully developed semiconductor EUV films with a transmittance of 90% in 2021, becoming another company in addition to ASML to successfully develop EUV films with a transmittance of more than 90%. Samsung is said to have asked it to increase the ratio to 94%.

The industry predicts that the demand for EUV film this year will be nearly 2 times higher than that of last year, while South Korea's domestic EUV film will be commercialized within 1-2 years at the earliest. In addition, TSMC is speeding up the development of its own products to ensure that EUV films are controllable.

▲ ASML exposure process diagram