SemiLit Whitepaper

💡Semilit

Building DUV lithography machines that can improve the foundries' efficiency and lower the machines' operation costs.

The Go-to company for the lithography machines.

CONTENTS

🔭 Long-Term Vision

We are focused on building the next generation of lithography machines that are always needed for every foundry.

We are building DUV immersion Lithography machines with an ArF light source (~193nm) at a resolution of <=27nm, ~1.35 NA Projection optics with a rate of 310 wafers/hour, which costs 0.1x less than current market machines.

Lithography machines are expensive. But our goals are to reduce the costs of it while maintaining the precision and accuracy of the machines.

Having to build a lithography machine does not just mean an investment in the product. But it is an investment in the technology. It is an upliftment in the power of a country to produce better electronics for the next generation.

We do not want to stop here. Our longer-term goals included building immersion systems and eventually being able to get an EUV machine or a soft X-rays machines into the market.

We are creating a new environment for the next generation of foundries that can be built upon.

We will be building an entire supply chain of vendors and manufacturers that support the whole semiconductor industry.

💡 Insight - The Problem

The need for electronics is growing ever so rapidly. In 2023, 1 trillion chips were manufactured all over the world.

There are 72 new foundries that are planned to be built in the US before 2030. A very clear response to the growing needs of chips, with the advent of newer technologies that need better chips.

With EUV coming into production, the demand for DUV lithography machines is increasing as they are used in packaging and other processes.

The average cost of a DUV machine in the market right now is around $25 M. Buying and maintaining these machines requires a lot of capital.

Why Now?

• The average chip line width for the semiconductor industry is going to be about to be 27nm in the next five years. This is where the DUV lithography systems excel.

• India’s semiconductor push has gained a lot of traction. A lot of fabs are planned to be built in India in the next 10 years. India’s semiconductor industry is a good environment to build technology such as this.

• Lithography as a technology is a very important one for a developing country such as ours. This helps us define the next generation of electronics that can impact our growth.

👨‍🏫 Hypothesis

As the technology in terms of the DeepUV light sources, UV optics, and mechatronics has improved, and become better. We can establish a supply chain that can reduce the cost of DUV lithography machines.

The most valuable thing we can build isn’t just he machine as a product, but:

• Build a network of suppliers and vendors that can improve the building of better lithography machines

• Build the understanding of precise manufacturing techniques, which can help us progress towards the Extreme UV lithography machines.

• Build a foundation for semiconductor manufacturing in India.

We just are not building a product..

But an entire network and foundation for the next generation of semiconductor manufacturing.

🛠️ What does this look like?

We are taking a structured approach to build out our lithography machines. As the costs of each individual part are expensive.

We are working with Professors from IIT Bombay and IIT Madras to build a network of reliable teams to work with. Our approach of building the network alongside the product is the best way for us to cut costs on expensive parts.

We are working on building our proof of concept with the help of the IITB-INUP program. So we can prove that the linewidth that we can achieve is possible.

🧁 MVP: What’s the cupcake version of this?

(ref - Galls Law: A complex system that works evolves from a simple system that worked)

For our MVP, we are going to be working with Universities to test out our MVP. Our MVP is a DUV immersion Lithography machine with a light source (~365nm) at a resolution of <=60nm, an objective of ~1.35 NA with a rate of 100 wafers/hour.

🚀 How can you support this dream?

If you’re an expert or experienced in Lithography, light matter interaction, or optics, I’d love to hear your feedback on;

• The design and infrastructure challenges you envision this facing

• Examples of where companies that have tried this have failed and why

If you’re someone with experience in Lithography machines, we'd love to hear your feedback on;

• Difficulties you faced with the machines you have worked on

• What requirements would you want to see in a lithography machine

If you think we should be talking to someone you know who would be good for us to talk to, please let us know.

Thank you so much for your time!

SemiLit Private Limited

office@semilit.in 

https://wwww.semilit.in