Specialists from the company "Optical Technologies" from the Novosibirsk Academpark have developed the first Russian laser system for ultraviolet printing of photomasks used in the production of microchips.
The created complex is designed for laser lithography — a technology that allows applying a microcircuit pattern to the surface of a silicon wafer using focused UV radiation. According to the developers, more than 75% of high-resolution photomasks in the world are created using this method.
The Russian system replaces specialized American lasers from the company Coherent, operating at a wavelength of 257 nanometers. There were no domestic analogs to these radiation sources before. The development is focused specifically on this wavelength, as it is used in the vast majority of installations and photomaterials.
The system includes a laser with a power of 10–30 milliwatts and a fiber amplifier that increases the radiation up to 15 watts. The energy is additionally amplified inside a special crystal that converts the frequency of light. This ensures stable operation of the installation and high quality of applying the pattern to the photomask.
According to the developers, an important feature of the prototype is its energy efficiency — the system consumes only 1 watt, which is less than even a household electric kettle (on average, it consumes from 1000 to 2500 watts). This reduces costs when using equipment on a large scale in industrial enterprises.
Currently, the pre-production sample is being tested at the Belarusian enterprise "Planar", which specializes in the production of microchips for a wide range of applications. Other products from the Novosibirsk company are already used there.
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