Broadband wafer steppers, variously known as 1X steppers and mini-steppers, are essential to advanced packaging use cases such as fan-out wafer-level packaging (FOWLP), wafer-level chip-scale packaging (WLCSP), and through silicon via (TSV). These highly specialized step-and-repeat lithography systems serve to create complex microstructures such as MEMS and compound semiconductors.
Our broadband UV-LED light sources ALE/1 and ALE/1C are a perfect fit if you want to upgrade your stepper to UV-LED illumination. Adopting our solution gives you full flexibility on the choice of photosensitive advanced packaging materials you may need to apply in your process.
Ours is a unique setup: Combining individual LED-Modules around the i-, h-, and g-line into one optical path gives you total control over the spectral composition of your broadband exposure in the 350 – 450 nm range. We provide high-power radiation output, so you can replace any conventional mercury arc lamp rated for up to 1,000 W – and even higher. Forget about tool downtime while swapping lamps and the hassle of mercury waste disposal. All that is a thing of the past with our UV-LED technology integrated in your lithography tool.
Our systems prove their merits every day in countless semiconductor manufacturing scenarios. You can achieve resolutions down to 1 µm or even in the sub-micron range by using our high-performance UV-LED illumination technology in a wafer stepper. Its excellent output stability and reliability can help you boost system throughput (WPH) while cutting ownership costs.
Our UV-LED exposure solutions replace the conventional lamp house. You no longer need the primary beam-folding mirror, heat sink to absorb radiation beyond 450 nm, shutter, and filters. In many cases, our LED Performance Optics are also an economical alternative for legacy homogenizing / condensing components. You have two options for upgrading your wafer stepper from mercury arc lamps to our UV-LED illumination:
We can customize both solutions to fit your equipment perfectly. Retrofitting your existing system is also an option.
Many photolithography applications rely on broadband exposure encompassing i-, h-, g-line (CWL 365 / 405 / 436 nm) radiation. Our UV-LED exposure systems provide similar spectral output to that of mercury discharge lamps, so upgrading your photolithography process to UV-LED exposure requires minimal adaption. Setups with two central wavelengths (365 / 405 nm or 405 / 436 nm) are also available.
Output power [mW] | Broadband (350 - 450 nm) | i-line (355 - 385 nm) |
---|---|---|
ALE/1 | 30,000 | 10,000 |
ALE/1C1 | 40,000 | 17,000 |
Mercury discharge lamp (typical values) | ||
500 W | 25,000 | 12,000 |
1,000 W | 50,000 | 25,000 |
1Standard mode; Performance mode with chiller delivers additional 20% output
Our UV-LED exposure solutions’ switching time (0 to 100%) is less than 1 millisecond. An internal closed-loop feedback control system keeps the radiation output constant over short cycles as well as over longer exposure cycles. These features combine to achieve ±0.2% dose accuracy for short 50-millisecond shots using nothing more than a timer. Accuracy even increases with longer exposure cycles.
Our ALE/1 is the benchmark fiber-coupled UV-LED spot light source when it comes to reliable output and a customizable broadband exposure spectrum.
Achieve resolutions down to 1 µm – or even in the sub-micron range – with our industry-proven UV-LED Exposure System ALE/1C.