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Cymer’s ELX-6500F2 fluorine excimer laser was ordered by Ultratech Stepper in November 1999 and shipped in early 2000 for integration into the XLS 157 microstepper. The documented shipment was the first ELX-6500F2 delivered to Ultratech; a separate second order is not confirmed by the contemporaneous sources.
What laser did Cymer ship to Ultratech?
It was the ELX-6500F2, a molecular-fluorine (F2) excimer laser designed to produce 157-nanometer deep-ultraviolet light. Ultratech ordered the system for its XLS 157 microstepper, a step-and-repeat lithography tool. In its November 17, 1999 announcement, Cymer described the laser as the first 157 nm source offering a 1,000 Hz repetition rate. That was Cymer’s stated product distinction, not proof that it was the first 157 nm laser of any kind.
The 1,000 Hz figure means the source could emit up to 1,000 pulses per second under its stated operating specification. Cymer positioned the high repetition rate as a way to support short exposures and improve stepper productivity. The intended lithography application was pushing optical patterning below the 100 nm (0.10 micron) feature-size range.
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Ultratech placed its order in November 1999. Cymer’s 1999 annual-report material says the ELX-6500F2 shipped at the end of January 2000, while a June 9, 2000 Photonics Spectra report described the first unit as shipped to Ultratech early that year. These dates describe the order and subsequent shipment, not two separate deliveries.
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The original announcement planned delivery to Ultratech’s facility in Wilmington, Massachusetts, during the first quarter of 2000. The later shipment account says the laser was delivered there and integrated into the XLS 157.
What was the XLS 157 used for?
The completed microstepper was shipped to a major Japanese semiconductor consortium for research and development work: characterization of leading-edge photoresists and other materials. That use demonstrates a development tool and materials-evaluation application; it does not establish deployment in volume chip manufacturing.
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Ultratech’s Kevin Zollinger, then vice president and general manager of its Wilmington facility, said the company needed a laser with the repetition rate for short exposures and greater stepper productivity. The stated goal was to extend optical lithography toward smaller features, rather than to document production-scale use of the system.
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What did the F2 laser’s specifications mean?
Fluorine excimer sources use molecular fluorine to generate light at 157 nm. This wavelength was pursued as an optical-lithography route to smaller feature sizes. Cymer’s 1,000 Hz ELX-6500F2 specification is the figure associated with the product announcement and company reporting.
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A 2001 Cymer patent describes a production-quality F2 source operating at 1,000–2,000 Hz or greater, with pulse energy above 10 mJ and bandwidth around 1 pm or less. Those are patent-described source characteristics, not a complete verified specification sheet for the particular ELX-6500F2 unit shipped to Ultratech. The available product reporting supports its 1,000 Hz repetition rate, but does not establish all of those patent figures for that individual laser.
Did Cymer receive a second Ultratech order?
The available contemporaneous accounts establish one November 1999 Ultratech order and the shipment of the first ELX-6500F2. They do not establish a distinct second order. The “receives second order” wording should therefore be treated as unverified unless an additional archival source confirms it.
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What happened to 157 nm lithography later?
In September 2003, Cymer said commercialization of its later XLF 157 nm source was on hold and that the product had returned to research and development. The company was emphasizing 193 nm immersion products at that point. This later roadmap statement concerns the XLF and Cymer’s commercialization plans; it does not change the documented early-2000 shipment of the ELX-6500F2 to Ultratech.
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