Nov 6 2008
Brion Technologies and NuFlare Technology, Inc. today announced plans to apply their combined expertise in computational lithography and mask equipment technology to develop new designs for manufacturing technologies for next-generation semiconductor masks.
Brion’s Tachyon™ technology, which is widely used to verify and correct advanced semiconductor designs, will be used to help address the challenges of mask equipment technology at the 32 nanometers (nm) process node and beyond. The resulting products are expected to be marketed by NuFlare, one of the world’s leading producers of mask writing and inspection systems.
“NuFlare appreciates the contributions that Brion is making to the industry’s mask technology progress,” said Kinya Usuda, director, Mask Inspection Equipment Division, at NuFlare. “This joint development effort, and ultimately our industry, will benefit from the combined strengths of these industry leaders.”
“As a user of Brion’s computational lithography and NuFlare’s reticle writing and inspection systems, we are pleased to support this collaborative effort,” said Tatsuhiko Higashiki, senior manager, Advanced ULSI Process Engineering Dept. II, Advanced ULSI Process Engineering Center, at Toshiba. “We expect the resulting technologies to improve the quality of masks and, ultimately, improve our own products’ yields and time to market.”
“We are delighted to be working with NuFlare and Toshiba on this exciting new venture,” said Jim Koonmen, general manager at Brion. “Our computational lithography technology already plays a key role in enabling leading-edge integrated circuit manufacturing, and this partnership should accelerate the industry’s ability to produce even smaller, more powerful devices.”