Vistec Electron Beam Lithography Group
The Vistec Electron Beam Lithography Group is a world leader in the design and manufacture of electron beam lithography systems and provides leading edge technology solutions for a wide range of applications. The Group provides systems to both key semiconductor manufacturers as well a Universities and Centres of Excellence. The application areas span a wide range of existing and emerging semiconductor and nanotechnology applications including silicon direct write, compound semiconductor, mask making, advanced research, integrated optics and several new emerging markets. In addition to their production facilities in Germany and the US, the Group also maintains service and support centres in the USA, Europe, China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea.Operating under the umbrella of the Vistec Semiconductor Systems Group (previously Leica Microsystems Semiconductor division) the group consists of two business units: Vistec Electron Beam GmbH, which produces Variable Shaped Beam Lithography systems– located in Jena, Germany and Vistec Lithography Inc., which produces Gaussian Beam Lithography systems – located in Watervliet, NY, USA.Electron beam lithography has over the past 40 years established itself as a valuable technology in both direct write and mask making. This has enabled lithography solutions to be developed and tested which have been several generations ahead of the current available technology roadmaps. Over the past five years, electron beam lithography has successfully entered the industrial sector as a direct write technology for Si-based prototype production. Vistec’s Variable Shaped Beam systems are currently being used in this application where they hold a leading market position and have shown to be the number one in terms of throughput, accuracy and system automation. With the ability to generate lithography of <10nm Vistec’s Gaussian Beam systems are the system of choice in a wide range of leading edge nanotechnology applications in Industry Research and Universities. Vistec’s Gaussian Beam systems are also well established in the compound semiconductor market for R&D and specialised production areas. The companies, located in Jena (Germany) and Watervliet (USA), benefit from the synergies between leading edge researchers, small and mid-sized equipment and supplier companies and key semiconductor manufacturers in their neighbouring areas. Both companies have a brilliant record as experienced developers and manufacturers of electron beam lithography systems. Their roots go back to Carl Zeiss Jena and Cambridge Instruments in the 1960s. Since then, a team of highly motivated employees, excellent researchers and engineers have worked hard to always ensure the outstanding performance of their electron-beam lithography systems, thus fulfilling the challenging requirements of our customers.
