Sustained rapid progress in information technology requires evolutions in optical devices, electronic materials and devices. Our leading-edge technologies in glass, ceramics and fluorine chemistry continually provide better material solutions to meet customer demands.

A hard problem, that is the development of optical materials which cope with 157- nanometer F2 laser light, can be solved by coming up with synthetic quartz glass for the application. Integration of material design, production know-how, and micro-fabrication technologies, which have been acquired over the years, resulted in the successful production of the material with a low expansion coefficient, high optical transmissivity and high chemical corrosion resistance. It is proving itself as an effective new material for lenses for semiconductor exposure equipments and photomask substrates which require ultraprecision down to the submicron level and stability.
  Asahi Glass lens material for steppers and scanners can cope with I-line (365 nm), KrF (248 nm), ArF (193 nm), and F2 (157 nm)- all the light sources needed for fourth-generation exposure equipment. Looking further ahead, R & D is conducted for the materials suitable for use with the far ultraviolet light sources, that are likely to be used with later generations of lithography.

High-purity synthetic quartz glass for semiconductor manufacturing equipment
Our excellent glass production technology enabled us to succeed in producing exceptionally pure (>99.999999%), synthetic quartz glass. It is a material with excellent spectrum transparency from ultraviolet to infrared, high durability, and thermal stability.

157nm lithography is expected to be used to manufacture generation-after-next devices in the 0.1 to 0.07 micron range, and this means developing new types of photoresist systems.
  Our fluoropolymer technology will provide many types of fluoropolymers (Fluon PTFE/ ETFE/PFA, CYTOP etc.) to IT industries.
  We have been developing novel fluoropolymers, which have C-F bonds to the main chain, for 157nm photoresist based on proprietary fluoropolymer technology.
  These have excellent transparency (absorption coefficient lower than 1.5mm-1), acceptable etching rates as resistant as conventional ArF resist and good solubility in alkaline solutions.
  Currently, applications to resist systems are under way.

Using hologram technology, we are working on devices for optical pickups and next-generation optical storage materials. Taking advantage of multiplex technology and processing at the individual pixel level at the time of recording and playback, huge recording capacities of several hundred gigabytes (GB) and playback speeds of several gigabits per second (Gbps) are possible. From CDs and DVDs and on to future generations, Asahi Glass provides wide support for higher recording densities.
  Moreover, because the numerical aperture (NA) of the pickup lens for the next-generation DVD blue is so large, the gap between the lens and recording media is becoming exceedingly small. This makes it necessary to hard-coat the surface of the discs with a fine protective layer of durable thin film. Using the company's exclusive film technology, combined with expertise in polymers and inorganic materials, Asahi Glass has developed a coating material that provides extremely high scratch resistance and high reliability to environmental change. Much is expected of the development of this coating film in next-generation DVD systems.

The electronic ceramics sector is expected to provide key materials for mobile phones and information transmission devices. To advance the development of electronic ceramics for high frequencies, Asahi Glass is using its special competence in the formulation and evaluation of glass ceramics and in circuit design technology. We have already succeeded in developing a frit for multilayer substrates with desirable dielectric properties, and by excluding lead, in meeting safety specifications. Based on green-sheet technology, we are building a foundation for component design.

The trend in the semiconductor industry continues to be towards smaller and faster integrated circuits. Global planarization is necessary for high density multilevel devices. Copper (low-resistivity) and Low-k (low dielectric) interconnection is desirable to obtain high speed devices. Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) is essential to achieve such advanced device structures. Asahi Glass has been developing CMP slurries by employing material design and polishing technologies.

CMP is a planarization process for semiconductor devices based on polishing technology using CMP slurry.