US materials company Inpria has begun production of MOx-based inorganic photoresist (PR).
Its high volume manufacturing facility has gone live recently and the company will be able to service the demand for inorganic PR, Inpria CEO Andrew Grenvile said at SMC 2020 hosted by SEMI.
The facility has a production capacity of 4,000 gallons per year, or around 15,141 liters. The company produced 230 gallons in the first half of 2019 __ this has jumped to 550 gallons in the first half of 2020. Production volume is expected grow more going forward.
Inpria also secured facilities to store the materials safety for around six months, the CEO said.
The company secured US$31 million in its Series C funding round back in February. It is likely that this has allowed it to expand its production facility.
JSR, SK Hynix and TSMC invested during the Series C round.
There are two kinds of EUV PR __ chemically amplified resists (CAR) and non-CAR. CAR uses polymer while non-CAR uses metal oxides __ Inpria produces the latter.
Inorganic PR’s particles are fifth the size of organic ones. EUV light absorption rate is also four to five times higher. These characteristics allows for more precise patterning.
The inorganic PR will be deposited on top of the track __ known as the spin-on method. Materials will be spin coated and EUV printed.
Inpria will collaborate with its equipment partners to strengthen the ecosystem. JSR will partner for quality and manufacturing system. TOK will be partner in additional batteries. Integrated process will be a co-development with IMEC. Scanners for MOx will be developed with ASML. Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron are partners for equipment compatibility.
Inpria is aiming to launch third-generation EUV PR by 2022. This is to meet demand for 3-nanometer (nm) processes.
Inpria spun off as a company from Oregon State University in 2007 having started as a team in the chemical lab there. In 2014, it secured investments from Samsung Venture Investment, Intel and Applied Materials. In 2017, Samsung invested again.
