February 25th, 2014 - Chemnitz and Jena (Germany) Fraunhofer ENAS orders a Variable Shaped Beam Lithography System from Vistec Electron Beam for Advanced Research.
Vistec Electron Beam GmbH, a leading supplier of electron-beam lithography systems, announced that Fraunhofer ENAS in Chemnitz has purchased a Variable Shaped Beam system Vistec SB254. The Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS, a leading research center within Germany's Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, will utilize the new electron-beam lithography system for their micro and nano technologies in a wide range of applications.

The Fraunhofer ENAS owns an excellent technological know-how in the field of smart systems integration, micro and nano systems and micro and nano electronics. The core competencies comprise design, development, test and evaluation of reliability of components and systems, interconnect technologies as well as system integration.  "The new electron-beam lithography system was chosen due to its operational flexibility and capacity to handle a large variety of different materials, high performance accuracy combined with a top level of automation. These features are essential to fulfill the requirements of our customers and partners in research and industry.", states Professor Dr. Thomas Gessner, Director of Fraunhofer ENAS.
The Fraunhofer ENAS purchase decision has been based on the result of an European tendering procedure including an intensive evaluation.

The Vistec SB254 is a high performance, cost-effective and universal electron-beam lithography system, enabling the usage for both direct write and mask making for a large variety of applications in industry and applied research.
The system is capable of handling and exposing transparent and non-transparent materials which are widely used in semiconductor and optical applications. Equipped with 50 kV Variable Shaped Beam electron optics, an address grid of 1 nm and an exposure platform with a stage travel range of 210 mm x 210 mm this system enables lithography below 20nm on various substrates from pieces up to 200 mm wafers and 7 inch masks.
As an optional feature, Cell Projection is also available. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) and fully automated cassette-to-cassette substrate handling, including substrate pre-alignment, allow the effective usage in an environment with consistently changing requirements. Furthermore the system features the data preparation software package ePLACE (provided by EQUIcon Software GmbH).

"We are very pleased, that Fraunhofer ENAS placed the order with Vistec. The installation of the new Vistec SB254 constitutes a new level of collaboration which started more than 20 years ago." comments Wolfgang Dorl, General Manager of Vistec Electron Beam.

More information at:

http://www.vistec-semi.com/products-applications/products/vistec-sb254/