History of Lithography Optics

Several proceedings in the field of camera lenses enabled Carl Zeiss to deliver in 1968 optics to German company Telefunken for its printer for the production of unique hard copies. In 1977, Carl Zeiss manufactured the S-Planar® 10/0.42, the first lens to allow production of 1 µm structures in an opto-lithographic process. This laid the groundwork for the first wafer stepper. The current partnership with Philips subsidiary ASML began in 1983 with the delivery of the first projection and illumination optics from Carl Zeiss. This business relation became a strategic partnership during fiscal year 1992/93. The new millennium also marked the start of a new era for Carl Zeiss in the semiconductor industry – especially with its 193 nm technology, which had triggered the next technology leap in the field of optical lithography from 1998 onwards. As a result of the increasing success the Carl Zeiss Group, the decision was made to bundle the light, electron and ion-optical technologies into an independently operating business group. In October 2001, the wholly owned subsidiary Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH with its subsidiaries Carl Zeiss Laser Optics GmbH, Carl Zeiss SMS GmbH and Carl Zeiss NTS was born (Carl Zeiss NTS switched to the Microscopy business group in 2010). The years to follow witnessed numerous innovations in the field of lithography optics for microchip fabrication, namely the Starlith optics which have set numerous milestones such as the use of the immersion method and the simultaneously application of lens elements and mirror systems, which first appeared on the Starlith 1700i. In 2006, a new plant was officially inaugurated in Oberkochen. It is the world’s most modern development and production center for lithography optics. Starlith 19xxi, produced from 2007 onwards, became the biggest success not only in the history of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group, but also at Carl Zeiss as the top-selling product of the company. In 2012, the volume production of EUV optics commenced, marking a new era in optical lithography.