Japan's Mitsui Chemicals to Set up CNT Film Production Line for Semiconductor

TapTechNews June 18th news, Mitsui Chemicals of Japan has the EUV photomask production business authorized by ASML HoldingNV, and started commercial production of EUV photomasks in its Iwakuni Ohtake plant in 2021, thus becoming the global leader in this industry.

Mitsui Chemicals announced that it will set up a carbon nanotube (CNT) film production line in its Iwakuni Ohtake plant and start mass-producing parts products of the most advanced lithography machine for semiconductors (a new-generation product of the thin film material 'Pellicle' that protects the original plate of semiconductor circuits).

Mitsui Chemicals expects an annual production capacity of 5000 pieces, and the production line is expected to be completed in December 2025 and can be used to support the next-generation high numerical aperture and high output EUV lithography machine to be launched by ASML.

So here comes the question, what is a CNT film? To introduce the new material, TapTechNews still needs to take everyone to understand the capabilities and needs of the new EUV lithography machine first.

In simple terms, the next-generation EUV lithography technology has particularly significant needs for high numerical aperture (NA value 0.55) and high output power (600W and above) processes, and the film made of new materials is crucial to withstanding 'the harsh lithography environment required to achieve this technology'.

For this reason, Mitsui Chemicals has developed a new CNT film and decided to mass-produce it. It is introduced that this CNT film can achieve a high EUV transmittance of more than 92% and a photoresist capacity of more than 1kW exposure output power.

Mitsui Chemicals hopes to add a new-generation protective film product using CNT as the film material and a traditional EUV protective film made of silicon-based film to its product line, thereby helping ASML improve semiconductor performance and productivity.

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