SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. here today announced plans to launch 1-gigabit DRAMs into production next year using 193-nm lithography and a new photoresist jointly developed with Shipley Co. of Marlborough, Mass.
According to Samsung, the new resist is the first to be commercialized for argon fluoride (ArF) lithography. The Korea chip maker and Shipley, a subsidiary of Rohm and Haas Co., formed their resist development partnership a little over a year ago to accelerate the use of 193-nm ArF-laser exposure tools (see Dec. 21, 1999, story).
Samsung said the photoresist enables mass production of 1-Gbit memories with 0.09-micron and below design rules. Samsung said it has applied for patents on the resist and lithography technology in nine countries, including the U.S., Japan, and Taiwan.
The 193-nm resist is expected to enable device shrinks down to the 0.07-micron level, according to Samsung. The company said it eventually plans to use the new compound and 193-nm scanners to produce 64-Gbit DRAMs with ArF lithography.
