VICTREX® PEEK-ESD™ Increased Production Efficiency

GUDENG EUV LITHOGRAPHY PODS MADE WITH VICTREX^® PEEK-ESD™ OFFER REDUCED LEVELS OF CONTAMINATION AND INCREASED WAFER PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY

WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, PA USA - Taiwan's Gudeng Precision Industrial Co., LTD, the world's leading photomask total solution provider, has selected VICTREX^® PEEK-ESD™ 101 as the key material to make its first commercialized Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography Pod available to the market. With the comprehensive material properties of VICTREX PEEK-ESD 101, Gudeng's EUV lithography pods present unique technical advantages and help raise wafer production efficiency and yield rates for applications of next generation light sources with wavelengths below 193nm.

Successful wafer fabrication using EUV technology requires advancements from the carriers to ensure contamination-free reticle handling, especially when circuitry shrinks. The desire to increase transistor density is driven by the need for added functionality in a smaller space. The design is based on a specification jointly defined by ISMI (International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative) and ASML (Advanced Semiconductor Material Lithography). The Gudeng EUV application is a dual pod design having both an inner pod made with metal and the outer pod made with VICTREX PEEK-ESD 101 to maintain a contamination-free environment. The enhanced Gudeng EUV pod also meets the SEMI E152 standard.

"Even by leveraging immersion and double-patterning techniques, the current lithography technology that uses light sources with wavelengths of 193nm will reach limits at 20nm processes. Industry trends for EUV technologies are calling for the production of smaller-sized integrated circuits over the next few years; driven by the desire of end users to increase functionality in smaller spaces. Using EUV light sources with wavelengths of 13.5nm allows the design rule to reach 14nm processes," explained Bill Chiu, Chairman of Gudeng Precision. "We see these increasing demands from customers along with the future of lithography technology driving demand for our new photo mask carriers. The new EUV pods are here to meet the requirements of next generation processes."

"We selected VICTREX PEEK-ESD 101 as the base material for our new EUV pods not only for its unique and comprehensive performance including high surface hardness, low particle generation, high purity and tight tolerance ESD, but also because of the high quality technical service that Victrex has provided. VICTREX PEEK-ESD 101 is used for all of the photo mask contact components and the housings. Contamination levels can be effectively reduced, and the level of wear resistance can be increased significantly compared to the incumbent materials thus offering increased wafer production efficiency. In addition to their mechanical design, the material properties contributes to longer product lifetime," said Jerry Lu, R&D Manager of Gudeng Precision.

About Victrex

Headquartered in the UK, Victrex Polymer Solutions, a division of Victrex plc, is the world's leading manufacturer of high performance polyaryletherketones such as VICTREX® PEEK polymer, VICOTE® coatings, APTIV® film, and VICTREX Pipes™. These materials are used in a variety of markets and offer an exceptional combination of properties to help OEMs, designers and processors reach new levels of cost savings, quality, and performance. All Victrex material production comes under Victrex's ISO 9001:2008 quality registration.

For more information visit http://www.victrex.com.

VICTREX® is a registered trademark of Victrex Manufacturing Limited. VICTREX Pipes™ is a trademark of Victrex Manufacturing Limited. PEEK-ESD™, HT™, ST™ and WG™ are trademarks of Victrex plc. VICOTE® and APTIV® are registered trademarks of Victrex plc.