Cymer, Canon widen litho alliance

Electronic News, March 16, 1998 by Dylan McGrath

San Diego--Cymer, Inc. and Canon, Inc.'s Semiconductor Production Equipment group last week extended all aspects of their existing association. Company officials said this agreement further augments the companies' existing alliance by defining their mutual focus on support and services, product reliability, warranty, selling, purchasing and forecasting.

According to Edward Poplawski, assistant director of operations for the Semiconductor Equipment division of Canon U.S.A., the agreement may be the most comprehensive of its kind in the lithographic equipment segment of the semiconductor industry to date. "Canon and Cymer have acted jointly in identifying and establishing a successful program that will reach and benefit all our global customers," Mr. Poplawski said. "We have a shared commitment to continue to enhance and improve the support we offer lithography end-users and device manufacturers in virtually every major chip producing region of the world."

Pascal Didier, Cymer VP of worldwide customer operations, said the agreement focuses strongly on the needs of deep-ultraviolet (DUV) end-users. "This rapidly expanding technology arena is not only extremely critical in today's fab, but also increasingly complex," he said. "To ensure that our joint customers are able to fully leverage the power of DUV, they need ready access to world-class technical support, service and spare parts.Canon and Cymer have established a program to train Canon service personnel on laser support for Canon DUV steppers. Over the past year, Canon has been sending its service managers and key account service technicians to Cymer's facilities for laser training classes. Eventually, all Canon personnel providing support for the company's DUV steppers will attend the training sessions.

While Cymer will continue to have primary responsibility for warranty support of lasers, the added strength of trained Canon staff with DUV laser experience on-site, or locally, will give customers significant advantages, said Tony Nakajima, national service manager for Canon's Semiconductor Equipment division. "It will help shorten maintenance response time so they get more productivity from their tools," he said.

Depending on customers' specific needs, Canon will develop a comprehensive service support program involving labor, spare parts and consumables. In addition, the company is assigning senior managers to interface with Cymer on all aspects of their shared customer relationship "In this way, Canon and Cymer can assure that customers will not encounter any unnecessary delays or confusion due to unclear job responsibilities between the two suppliers," Mr. Nakajima said.

For more than a decade, Canon and Cymer have worked together on DUV technology developments. Canon's large installed base of DUV systems, from its early prototype FPA-4500 and FPA-3000EX1 systems introduced in the late 1980s, to its latest step-and-scan units, have featured Cymer's lasers as the standard illumination source. The company's early-generation 0.25-micron DUV steppers--the FPA-3000EX3 and the FPA-3000EX3L 300mm DUV stepper--have used the Cymer 4000 Series laser. The newest generation of Canon DUV steppers, the FPA-3000EX4 and EX5, as well as the Canon FPA-4000ES1 step-and-scan system, are featuring the new high-output Cymer 5000 series coupled with Canon's on-demand laser control technologies. These features reduce gas consumption, minimize degradation of the optical components and extend laser chamber lifetime, Canon said.

Cymer said the higher intensity of the 5000 Series provides increased system throughput.

--Dylan McGrath