MLE™ Maskless Exposure Technology

Heterogeneous integration is gaining more attention and is seen as a forthcoming way of achieving higher computing performances and extended device functionalities without the need for continuous scaling. The demand for the continuous innovation of the chiplet design and its integration on silicon or on package can be addressed via adaptive patterning. This new industry vision will require new high-volume manufacturing tools that can quickly integrate new designs schemes as traditional back-end lithography suffers from several limitations restricting its applicability. Moreover, continuously increasing mask costs for various layout designs and mask inventory management represents a significant part of overall development and production costs. MLE technology invented by EV Group addresses this critical demand for design flexibility, as it surmounts mask-related difficulties in both development and production phases and thus shortens development cycles. Additionally, this technology keeps your specific designs and layouts confidential as they do not need to be sent externally. This innovative ‘digital lithography’ technology bridges the gap between R&D and production while offering a scalable solution capable of dynamically addressing die and wafer-level designs simultaneously and at the same time meet critical requirements for various markets, such as advanced packaging, MEMS, biomedical and HDI PCB markets.

EVG’s MLE technology enables high-resolution (<2 microns L/S), stitch-free maskless exposure of the entire substrate surface with high throughput and low cost of ownership. The system scales according to user needs – for facilitating rapid transition from R&D to HVM mode, for throughput optimization, or for adaptation to different substrate sizes and materials – and is ideal for processing a range of substrates from small silicon or compound semiconductor wafers up to panel sizes. MLE achieves the same patterning performance regardless of photoresist thanks to a flexible and scalable high-power UV laser source, which provides multiple wavelength exposure options.

The aim of EVG’s novel MLE technology is not only to bring a new lithography tool to the market, but also address a critical need for smart and agile digital processing in the semiconductor industry while delivering unique maskless scalability in throughput, format and consumables-free infrastructure

• Full-resolution, stitch-free dynamic photoresist patterning
• Better than 2 µm line / space resolution in any arbitrary direction
• Design freedom and data confidentiality thanks to digital programmable layouts
• Individual die annotations (serial numbers, encryption keys, etc.)
• Compensation of wafer level  adaptive registration
• Unaffected by substrate deformation and warpage (thick wafers, glass, or organic substrates)
• Smart & agile digital lithography processing infrastructure
• Consumables-free technology