Toppan Photomasks Inc. said that it has fabricated extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) masks at its facility in Dresden, Germany for use in ASML''s first EUV alpha tool.

The masks supplied by Toppan will be used to set up and perform the first lithography on the EUV alpha tool, a 0.25 numerical aperture, full-field scanner built by Dutch lithography tool supplier ASML.
 
EUV is a potential - and many consider the most likely -- next generation lithography technology . It uses exposure wavelengths of 13nm along with reflective, multi-layered photomasks to image IC patterns onto silicon wafers. Currently, proponents of the technology and industry roadmaps envision in as a successor to 193nm immersion lithography that would be necessary for the 32nm node.

Toppan Photomasks'' Dresden manufacturing campus includes a commercial production facility and a joint venture R&D center called the Advanced Mask Technology Center (AMTC). The AMTC is equally owned among Toppan Photomasks, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Infineon Technologies AG.

The campus began operations in 2004, and is geared for leading edge mask production, accommodating design rules as small as 65nm. Toppan inherited the Dresden facility when it acquired U.S. merchant mask maker DuPont Photomasks earlier this year.