SUSS MicroTec extends technological and market leadership of photomask equipment division

GARCHING, GERMANY: HamaTech APE GmbH & Co. KG, a wholly owned subsidiary of SÜSS MicroTec AG, announced that it has received a double-digit number of orders for MaskTrack Pro, the mask integrity platform for Next Generation Lithography, since its launch in July 2009.

MaskTrack Pro is the only system in the field that addresses the highly critical clean, bake and develop steps for photo masks in the advanced lithography nodes as sub22nm 193nm Immersion Lithography, Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) and Nano-Imprint Lithography (NIL).

With a unique combination of physical and chemical cleaning technologies, the MaskTrack Pro enables customers to effectively remove organic and inorganic contamination without damage to the vulnerable features and material structures of the reticle.

MaskTrack Pro Bake Develop combines the exclusive ASonic develop technology with a sophisticated Post-Exposure Bake regime for perfect CD uniformity matching, crucial to sub 22nm double patterning technology and future production challenges of advanced lithography.

“As the pressure to move to Next Generation Lithography strengthens, market adoption of the MaskTrack Pro has accelerated. Early 2011, MaskTrack Pro will be operational at many leading-edge customers around the globe.” said Wilma Koolen-Hermkens, CEO of HamaTech. “We are encouraged that several customers have placed multiple equipment orders and expect that MaskTrack Pro will become the de facto industry standard.”

“Mask integrity is the cornerstone of the MaskTrack Pro platform design and plays a important role in the successful adoption of advanced lithography.” said Frank Averdung, President and CEO of SUSS MicroTec. “We want to thank our customers and partners for working with us to develop the MaskTrack Pro. Through collaborative efforts we delivered a system that eliminates the most critical challenges of Next Generation Lithography mask integrity.”