Development of F2 exposure tools

Summary form only given. ArF lithography (wavelength 193 nm) is expected to start its mass-production stage at this time. It will cover the 100 nm resolution node and will extend to near 80 nm. F2 lithography (wavelength 157 nm) is expected to come next; it is the technology that realizes both high throughput (comparable to ArF) and high resolution below 70 nm at the same time. F2 exposure tools have similar structure to ArF tools; but there are significant differences in optics, materials and mechanical structures.