This program tackles the critical challenges that remain in bringing EUVL to high volume manufacturing. The program also develops other technologies for extending 193nm immersion lithography. Toshiba and SanDisk have been core partners in imec’s industrial affiliation program in Advanced Memory since 2011.

“This expanded agreement with Toshiba and SanDisk represents the next step in our long-term strategic and fruitful partnership. We are proud to join forces and strengthen our collective research competence in advanced patterning,” said Luc Van den hove, President and CEO at imec.

“The agreement is a testament of the industrial value and impact our R&D programs have on advanced semiconductor scaling. To date, this program, supported by our world-class infrastructure, represents the largest investment in advanced lithography equipment in the world.”

“Our participation in imec’s advanced patterning program provides us access to state-of-the-art lithography infrastructure for EUV technology R&D,” said Dr. Ritu Shrivastava, Vice President, Technology Development, SanDisk. “We look forward to contributing to expanding the knowledge base in this important field.”

“We are pleased to be expanding our successful strategic partnership with imec,” said Susumu Yoshikawa, Technology Executive, Memory Technology of Semiconductor & Storage Products Company, Toshiba Corporation. “This leading-edge lithography technology program should be an important contributor to accelerating scale-up in high volume semiconductor manufacturing.”