In terms of overall cost structure and performance benefits, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will likely adopt electron-beam (e-beam) direct write as its prominent next-generation lithography tools, according to Burn Lin, senior director of the company's Micropatterning Division.

Some industry players plan to offer extreme ultraviolet (EUV) systems, costing as much as 40-50 million euros for 22nm IC production whereas one e-beam tool is priced at about half that, at around 20 million euros only, Lin noted.

Although EUV tools could theoretically process a hundred wafers per hour, related issues concerning power source and photo resist may eventually result in the processing of one single wafer, according to Burn. Not only is the optical lens system of EUV tools complex in nature, the performance of the power source and photo resist still lag the ideal-performance benchmarks by 20x and 3-5x, respectively, he added.

Even if EUV tools overcame the mentioned issues and produced about ten wafers per hour, e-beam technology would still prove more competitive, Lin said. Using multiple beams, overall performance can be enhanced to process 15 wafers per hour, stated Lin, adding that costs from photomasking will be saved considerably.

Concerning other alternatives, Lin commented that based on the industry's current geometry migration, there is insufficient time for alternative solutions to be developed for 22nm design by 2010.