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At SEMICON West in San Francisco in July 2005, ASML unveiled the TWINSCAN XT:1700i, a 193 nm water-immersion lithography scanner with a numerical aperture (NA) of 1.2. ASML positioned it for volume production at the 45 nm process node. Its headline distinction was “hyper-NA”: it pushed immersion NA above 1.0 and exceeded the 1.07 NA reported for Nikon’s competing NSR-S609B.
What ASML announced at SEMICON West
ASML’s July 12, 2005 announcement introduced the TWINSCAN XT:1700i as an immersion scanner intended for 45 nm volume chip production. The company specified a 26 mm × 33 mm maximum exposure field and throughput of up to 122 wafers per hour. Those figures were manufacturer specifications in the launch announcement, not independent measurements of production performance.
Reports around the event help pin down the timing. EE Times previewed the expected unveiling on July 6; EDN reported on July 13 that the scanner had been unveiled at the show. In the launch announcement, ASML said first shipment was planned for Q1 2006. EE Times had previously cited an expectation of Q2 or Q3 2006; in December 2005, ASML again targeted shipment by the end of Q1, after qualification work.
What “hyper-NA immersion” means
Water raises the effective numerical aperture
In immersion lithography, a thin layer of ultra-pure water fills the space between the projection lens’s final element and the wafer. Because water has a higher refractive index than air, using it in that optical path raises the system’s effective NA and can improve the smallest feature the scanner can resolve at a given exposure wavelength.
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NA is a measure of an optical system’s ability to collect and focus light. In the usual lithography terminology, “hyper-NA” describes an NA greater than 1.0. The XT:1700i used 193 nm ArF exposure and reached NA 1.2. ASML said its catadioptric lens combined refractive components with mirrors to create that hyper-NA lens.
Why the NA figure mattered
A higher NA can improve resolution without changing the exposure wavelength, which made immersion a way to extend 193 nm lithography toward smaller process nodes. The figure alone does not establish a scanner’s yield, defect rate, cost, or overall manufacturing performance; those depend on more than the lens aperture.
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How the XT:1700i compared with Nikon’s NSR-S609B
At the 2005 show, the clearest published comparison was numerical aperture: EE Times reported 1.07 for Nikon’s NSR-S609B, versus ASML’s announced 1.2 for the XT:1700i. That gave ASML the higher headline NA claim. The available reports do not establish a full like-for-like comparison across the other specifications and operational measures.
| Measure | ASML TWINSCAN XT:1700i | Nikon NSR-S609B |
|---|---|---|
| Numerical aperture | 1.2 (ASML, July 2005 announcement) | 1.07 (EE Times, July 2005) |
| Exposure wavelength | 193 nm (ASML, July 2005 announcement) | Not stated in the cited EE Times report (July 2005) |
| Target process node | 45 nm volume production (ASML, July 2005 announcement) | Not stated in the cited reports (2005) |
| Maximum field size | 26 mm × 33 mm (ASML, July 2005 announcement) | Not stated in the cited reports (2005) |
| Throughput | Up to 122 wafers per hour, as specified by ASML in July 2005 | Not stated in the cited reports (2005) |
| Shipment timing | ASML planned first shipment in Q1 2006; its December 2005 update targeted the end of Q1 after qualification work | Not stated in the cited reports (2005) |
| Readiness or qualification status | ASML said in December 2005 that qualification work was under way and the lens was ramping up for production | Not stated in the cited reports (2005) |
What the announcement did—and did not—establish
The XT:1700i announcement established ASML’s specifications and manufacturing target for a 2005 product launch. It did not, by itself, show how many tools shipped, what yields customers achieved, or how the scanner compared on cost or reliability. The stated Q1 2006 shipment date was a target, later reiterated as end-Q1 after qualification work, rather than proof of a completed shipment.
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For historical context, ASML’s 2024 materials describe its current DUV immersion platform at NA 1.35. That later figure shows how far the platform’s stated aperture advanced, but it should not be confused with the XT:1700i’s 1.2 NA or taken as evidence that the 2005 scanner is still commercially offered.
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