According to sources and vendors at this week's SPIE Microlithography Conference here, ASM Lithography, Canon Inc., and Nikon Corp. have been shipping their respective 193-nm tools in small quantities for R&D purposes since 1999. But vendors are still unable to deliver these high-priced systems in large volumes to their chip customers--most of which are currently attempting to step up their use of 193-nm tool for production purposes, sources said.

Chip makers are able to extend the life of their existing krypton-fluoride, 248-nm lithography tools, but these older-generation systems are quickly running out of steam. While some experts believe that 248-nm tools will process devices down to 0.13-micron or so, the newer 193-nm scanners are geared to more easily deliver chips at 0.10-micron and below node.

"My understanding is that there is a urgent demand for 193-nm tools in the supply chain," said analyst Klaus-Dieter Rinnen, who tracks the industry segment at Dataquest Inc. in San Jose. "Maybe the tool suppliers are a little late in shipping their systems, but it depends on who you talk to," Rinnen added.

"If you ask Intel, 193-nm may be far behind," said Rinnen, suggesting that the microprocessor giant needs those advanced tools sooner rather than later. "If you ask someone else, it could be on track."

But still, tool and material makers have been caught off-guard in the 193-nm market. The current downturn is causing some chip makers to push harder to develop their next-generation process technologies, prompting a sudden and unexpected demand for 193-nm gear, Rinnen observed.

In total, only twenty 193-nm tools have been shipped by lithography vendors since the first systems were introduced in 1999, said the Dataquest analyst. In 2001, however, the market for 193-nm tools could hit 50 in terms of unit shipments, he added.

Meanwhile, tool vendors blame the 193-nm shipment problems on suppliers of calcium-fluoride material (CaF₂), which is used to make the lenses for 193-nm scanners. In fact, CaF₂ suppliers are unable to ramp production of this material fast enough, causing severe shortages in the worldwide market, vendors say.

The CaF₂ lens material is required to hold up under the higher concentrated heat generated by new and advanced ArF excimer lasers. Traditional quartz glass lenses, used in the current 248-nm generation of exposure tools, do not provide high transmittance at 193-nm wavelength, analysts said.

The inability to ship CaF₂ material is wreaking havoc with 193-nm tool shipments, said David Brandt, senior director of marketing at Cymer Inc. The San Diego-based company develops and sells laser sources for lithography equipment, including a new line of 193-nm ArF products.

"There are a lot of 193-nm R&D tools out there for process development," Brandt said. "But 193-nm tools have yet to reach production. The lack of calcium-fluoride is limiting the ability for lithography vendors to complete and ship their 193-nm tools," he said.

Leading lithography vendors, which declined to comment on the shipment delays for their respective 193-nm tools, agreed.

"The market for argon-fluoride scanners is behind the curve," said Phillip Ware, director and general manager of marketing for the Semiconductor Equipment Division at Canon U.S.A. Inc. "There is great market demand for argon-fluoride tools, but the supply is not there because you can't get the glass," said Ware, who is based in Irving, Tex.

Continued shortages of CaF₂ materials prompted some tool vendors like Canon in Japan to take matters into its own hands. Last year, the Japanese company announced plans to build new $40 million plant to make CaF₂ for lenses used in its next-generation 193-nm and 157-nm lithography equipment (see Aug. 25, 2000, story).

Another lithography vendor, Nikon, is also building a CaF₂ plant for lenses. The plant will begin to make lenses later this year, according to the company.

But even though Canon and Nikon are building its own plant, there is still a major problem in procuring this complex material from merchant sources. "In terms of quantities and quality, everybody is struggling to deliver CaF₂ material," said Gitimoy Kar, director of the Fluoride Crystals Business Unit at Corning Inc.

The Corning, N.Y.-based company is one of a handful of merchant CaF₂ material suppliers in the market. Other CaF₂ material suppliers include Saint-Gobain Crystals & Detectors and Schott ML GmbH.

One of the problems is that CaF₂ material is difficult to develop into pure-grade, high-quality lenses for lithography gear, according to Kar. But at the same time, CaF2 developers were caught off-guard in terms of the supply and demand equation for next-generation equipment, Kar said.

"For years, nobody was developing products that used CaF₂," he said. "Suddenly, in 1998, we were faced with the challenge to develop something in two years."

At present, Schott appears to have the lead in terms of shipping CaF₂ materials, followed by Corning, analysts said. "We are shipping in limited quantities," Kur said.

But still, it's still unclear when 193-nm tools will make it into the production fabs. "It's just around the corner," warned Cymer's Brandt.

And pressure is growing for tools in the next technology node. "Clearly, 193-nm tools missed the 0.13-micron window," said John Wiesner, senior vice president of engineering for Nikon Corp.'s U.S. subsidiary, Nikon Precision Inc., in Belmont, Calif.

"Today's 193-nm tools will support the 100-nm node," Wiesner said. "I don't see them missing the 0.09-micron window," he said.

Others agreed. "If you talk to the foundry guys right now, they are going to try to extend their 248-nm tools," said Dave Chavoustie, executive vice president of sales for ASML of the Netherlands. "It's a different story with the DRAM makers," he said.

"But from 0.12-micron on down, we're talking about 193-nm technology," he said. "There is a huge demand for new technologies like 193-nm tools."

Most experts agree that 193-nm tools are critical for next-generation devices. These systems could push out the need for the more advanced 157-nm systems and, perhaps, the so-called next-generation lithography systems.

Reduced-enchanced technologies such as phase-shift techniques could enable a 193-nm system tool to process devices well below the 100-nm node, said Canon's Ware. "With some tricks, you could get a 193-tool down to 70-nm," Ware said.