Nikon Unveils the Litho Booster 1000, a Next‑Generation Alignment Station Aiming to Deliver Unmatched Overlay Precision for Advanced 3D Devices | News
Tokyo — Nikon Corporation announced the development of the Litho Booster 1000, its newest alignment station model engineered to achieve exceptional overlay accuracy in semiconductor manufacturing. The Litho Booster 1000 performs dense sampling measurements on each wafer and feeds forward precise correction data directly to the lithography system before exposure, enhancing process control and boosting production yield. Nikon plans to release the system in the latter half of 2026.
Built for maximum versatility, the Litho Booster 1000 supports lithography systems from Nikon as well as other suppliers. Since 2018, Nikon has supplied alignment station technology to meet customers’ overlay requirements, and the new model represents a significant advancement in capability and performance.
As 3D device structures rapidly gain adoption across multiple semiconductor sectors—including CMOS image sensors, logic devices, NAND flash, and approaching DRAM—the industry faces more demanding overlay challenges. These arise from wafer deformation and misalignment during multi-layer processing and wafer-to-wafer bonding, necessitating higher-density, more precise wafer measurements to maintain tight overlay tolerances across increasingly complex stacks.
The Litho Booster 1000 tackles these challenges with improved multi-point and absolute measurement accuracy, leading to better device quality and higher yield while preserving high productivity throughout the fabrication line. Development of the system has been partially supported by research results from a project sponsored by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
This information is current as of the publication date and may change without notice.
