PAS 5500/400 Step & Scan Alignment System from ASML

Though not the first step & scan system—that honor goes to Perkin Elmer—this unit was the second step & scan system released by ASML. It was such a success that it soon propelled them into the leading supplier’s position. Announced at SPIE’s 23rd Annual International Symposium on Microlithography in February 1997, it was an instant celebrity.

Designed as a high-speed production unit for the near quarter-micron critical layers, it could produce 10 times the surface energy density as that of its previously released, but full quarter micron companion, the PAS 5500/500.

It came with a variable NA projection lens that used a 4X reduction ratio and offered maximum long-term mask overlay of 35 nanometers.

Though since surpassed by later models, it was truly an industry landmark.

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Key Contributors: To Be Recognized.

Posted by: George,Richard A.
Posted on: 10/21/06 08:58:40 AM

The statement 'PAS 5500/400 Step & Scan Alignment System from ASML Though not the first step & scan system?that honor goes to Perkin Elmer?this unit was the first step & scan system released by ASML.' is simply not true!
The first step & Scan system introduced by ASML was the PAS 5500/500, completed in 1997 and shipping in volume from 1998. See for instance, ASML's 20th anniversary book, REFLECT & IMAGINE - 20 Years of ASML' published by ASML in December 2004.
Furthermore, check out the press release Tuesday 4 February 1997 8:53 GMT , ASML ANNOUNCES FIRST SCANNING LITHOGRAPHY TOOL (the PAS 5500/500 Step & Scan system)
to be found at http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=59397
I should know, though listed as a secondary author I actually gave the paper
on the first PAS 5500/500 at SPIE 1997, see SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3051
Paper #: 3051-38, Performance of a step-and-scan system for DUV lithography, pp.817-835
Author(s): Gerard de Zwart, Martin A. van den Brink, Richard A. George, Danu Satriasaputra, Jan Baselmans, H.Butler, Jan van Schoot, Jos de Klerk, all of ASM Lithography BV, Veldhoven, Netherlands.
I spent the whole week at SPIE writing and re-writing this paper, anxiously waiting for new PAS 5500/500 results every day, as the brave developers in Veldhoven fought to get me good results on the very first PAS 5500/500. It was a very tense and exciting time and is the only lithography SPIE were I never had time to see any papers. I was just sitting in my San Jose hotel room, writing & editing the presentation the whole week. But the results speak for themselves. The PAS 5500/500 was a revolutionary Step & Scan design, with very high throughput and customer value for money, built on the backbone of the successful PAS 5500 stepper body. The PAS 5500/500 was followed shortly afterwards by the i-line PAS 5500/400.

Thanks Richard. This is what is so great about today's technology:
it ensures the accuracy of what we are doing and you get it from the horse's mouth. Thanks for all the detail and and the story of what it feels like to launch something so revolutionary. Anyway, we'll fix it. -- dan