IBM, Toppan Team on 45nm Photomasks

Online staff -- Electronic News, 5/19/2005

IBM Corp. and Toppan Printing Co. Ltd. today announced an agreement to jointly develop photomasks for 45-nanometer semiconductor manufacturing processes.

With a $200 million investment expected from the duo, IBM and Toppan plan to develop a photomask process to allow early production of 45nm devices, setting a mid-2007 goal.

Development work will be conducted at IBM’s plant in Burlington, Vt., and evaluated at IBM’s 300mm semiconductor wafer production facility in East Fishkill, N.Y. As part of this work, Toppan will assign engineers to work with IBM’s mask development team in Burlington. 

Tokyo-based Toppan plans to transfer the jointly developed manufacturing process from IBM’s Burlington operation to its own plants, and to establish its own production system in order to provide customers with 45nm photomasks for the early stages of commercialization, the company said.

“IBM and Toppan will bring together formidable skills and resources to create an industry-leading 45-nanometer photomask technology,” Douglas Grose, general manager, technology development and manufacturing, IBM, said in a statement. “This agreement is a logical extension of our strategy to develop a common, global process technology platform with key semiconductor fabrication companies.  Joining with Toppan in this development effort will ensure IBM’s continued mask technology leadership to meet the future semiconductor needs of IBM systems and our OEM clients worldwide.”
 
The two companies expect that with this joint photomask development initiative, industry-wide R&D efforts for commercial production of 45nm technology will likely accelerate.

“We believe this joint initiative will place IBM and Toppan at the forefront of advanced photomask technology development, and thus will enable us to contribute a great deal to the technological innovation in the world’s semiconductor industry," Naoki Adachi, president of Toppan, said in the statement. "The expertise accumulated in cooperation with IBM will help Toppan maintain its position as the world’s top photomask manufacturer, even at the 45nm process node.”