The future of equipment development and semiconductor production

The semiconductor industry has experienced exceptional double-digit growth over the past 25 years, fueled by strong demand in end-use markets such as computing, communications, consumer appliances, and industrial applications. Its future, however, depends on the ability of semiconductor manufacturers and equipment suppliers alike to lower cost while pushing the technological limits of lithography, materials science, and further the development of new manufacturing techniques like dual damascene. This paper will describe in detail those technology challenges that semiconductor manufacturers and equipment suppliers must overcome to extend Mooreʹs law into the next century, as well as highlight areas where equipment productivity has added, and can continue to add, tremendous value to the growth of the industry. Finally, a new paradigm called Process Module Systems will be put forth to address the increasingly complex manufacturing requirements as well as economic challenges that the industry, as a whole, faces.