TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITEDANNUAL REPORT 07

FEATURE

CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™
Born of Challenging the Limits
Role of Coater/Developer

the CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™. The reason is that, amid

Finer geometries are essential to realizing a high level of ICa shift toward expanding production volume per machine, it

integration. Playing a central role in achieving finer design rules

had become apparent that customers were seeking improvedis the lithography process. This process is performed by expo-performance from coater/developers; the development of high-sure equipment (stepper/scanner), which projects circuit pat-end exposure equipment was already progressing in response

terns onto the wafer that is coated and developed withto this need. With market competition escalating, the ability tophotoresist (photosensitizing agent) by a coater/developer.

constantly respond to the market ahead of rivals is essential.

Coater/developers, along with exposure equipment, must
accommodate a diverse range of customer demands, andThis sense of urgency served as the impetus for the development of the CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™.

therefore require sophisticated coating and processing technologies alongside high reliability.

Indefatigable Research, Then on tothe Next Challenge

Creation of CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™

First, in trying to reduce the footprint, we cut the unit area by

We formally announced the CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™ at

25% over the existing level. Next, we developed a wafer trans-Semicon Japan 2006, held in December 2006, to the surpriseport system that increased throughput by 30%. By overcomingof many customers.

the seemingly contradictory issue of reducing the footprint while

The reason is that the CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™

increasing throughput, we boosted the productivity per foot-builds on the cutting-edge functions and advanced processes

print by 75%, which is clearly tied to greater productivity forof the existing CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS™ to not only boost

customers. We also increased reliability while also enhancing

throughput by 30% but also to reduce the footprint by 25%

maintainability, including equipment adjustments.

and improve the productivity per footprint by 75%. These

The CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™ is designed to enableattributes are clearly tied to higher productivity for customers.

adjustments for time-related changes in equipment operations

The existing CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS™ already achieves

without having to involve an engineer, thus maximizing thehigh productivity and processing stability, underpinning aperiod of production contribution. Moreover, the equipment ismarket sales share of 80%. It is only natural therefore that therepeatedly load tested to ensure the highest possible levels ofannouncement of the CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™, with its

stability and reliability.

even greater capabilities, was met with great surprise.

As such, the CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™ was born

Actually, immediately after the start of mass shipments ofin anticipation of customer needs, and is the crystallization of

CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS™, we were already making steadythe indefatigable pursuit of product and technology develop-

headway on the development of next-generation equipment,

ment by project members from sales, marketing, development, and manufacturing units.

Throughput
Toward and Beyond

Over 30%
Increase
CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™

Over 25%
Reduction

Footprint
CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS™

200WPH
CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™

CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS™

Throughput / Footprint

ImprovedCLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™

throughput
to footprint ratioby 75%

CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS™

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ANNUAL REPORT 07

TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITEDCLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™

Hikaru Ito: Former VP & Deputy General Manager, SPE-1 Division and General Manager, CLEAN TRACK BU(From June 2007, Corporate Director, Senior VP & Deputy General Manager, SPE-2 Division and General Manager, Etch Systems BU)

Aggressively Addressing Market Needs Ahead of the Competition
Given the changes in thetions would be selected and what should be dropped,

market in recent years,

which brought the concept into focus. Productivity isrequests to increase equip-

increasing in exposure equipment, but machine down-timement reliability and produc-even for an instant causes damage to the customer. Thus,

tivity will surely exceed previous levels. To meet user needs inachieving even greater reliability became our mission.

this kind of era, we decided to implement a model change,
and achieved unparalleled development speed.

Born of this process, the CLEAN TRACK™ LITHIUS Pro™,
is an extremely compact yet highly productive product.

During the project, the key focus was the creation of aNot content with an 80% share of this market, we willconcept that conformed to the desires of users. Conse-pursue further improvements in our technology development

quently, in the initial phase of development, there werecapabilities and manufacturing technology capabilities tomany long and repeated discussions about what specifica-

launch new products in the global market in a timely manner.

Masami Akimoto: Senior VP & General Manager, Development
A Challenge-Oriented Mindset Produces More Highly Skilled andMotivated Employees
The drive to doggedly

pursued a design concept from the early development stage

pursue a theme and anof minimizing the frequency of problems as well as repair time

unshakable will are essential

after coming on line. As a result, I think we were able toto developing market-

deliver equipment that offers enhanced reliability and thatleading products. For this, we pursued this project behindclosed doors, including the use of a special room for develop-

contributes to greater productivity for customers.
We learned that people who are prepared to take up thement. In the initial phase, 15 development engineers werechallenge of making the impossible possible will grow andinvolved, and 30 were involved at the prototype stage, whicheven become leaders. TEL Values* are fostered throughis an exceedingly small number of people. I believe that theparticipation in projects, not through mere words alone.

shared mentality among this group increased motivation andsped up the pace of development.
In the development process, one of the primary focuses
was increasing quality. Because it is not feasible to improve
quality substantially once mass production has begun, we* TEL Values are aimed at sustaining the Company’s progress anddynamism. They validate the TEL-way, which is the driving force behind
the Company’s growth and a set of fixed ideals to be passed on.

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