Lambda Physik to develop lithography lasers with Matsushita
An excimer-laser-development team has been formed by researchers from Lambda Physik GmbH (Göttingen, Germany) and Matsushita Research Institute (MRIT, Tokyo, Japan) to design a novel, extremely narrow-bandwidth, high-repetition-rate, deep-ultraviolet (DUV) excimer laser for high-numerical-aperture step-and-scan exposure tools for integrated-circuit lithography.The next generation of DUV steppers will have to meet the challenge of manufacturing integrated circuits with feature sizes down to 0.25 µm. According to Dr. Dirk Basting, president of Lambda Physik, maximizing the productivity of such steppers will require an extremely narrow-bandwidth (less than 0.8 pm), medium-power (10 W) excimer laser with a high pulse-repetition rate (1000 Hz). MRIT has developed excimer lasers for DUV photolithography and holds several patents for a new high-efficiency-resonator design. Upon completion of the research effort, laser production is planned in either Japan or Germany, depending on demand. Basting projects that more than 300 DUV steppers will be sold worldwide between 1996 and the year 2000 for microprocessor and 1-Gbit-DRAM production.
Lasertron will make EDFA pump lasers for AT&T
Lasertron (Burlington, MA) has announced a multimillion-dollar order from AT&T Network Systems (Andover, MA) to supply 980-nm erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) pump lasers for AT&T`s Next Generation Lightwave Network program. Product shipments have already started and will continue over the next 18 months. A subsidiary of Oak Industries (Waltham, MA), Lasertron is reportedly the first component manufacturer to offer 980-nm EDFA pump lasers in commercial quantities.
Industrial Laser Review to propose educational initiative
In accepting the Schawlow Award at the ICALEO conference in November, Industrial Laser Review editor David Belforte identified education as a serious roadblock to increased acceptance of industrial-laser technology in the USA. He focused on the lack of laser-applications education on both the university and vocational-school levels. ILR will host an Industrial Laser Education Initiative meeting on March 7, 1996, at the Hilton Hotel in Novi, MI, in conjunction with the University of Michigan`s Automotive Laser Applications Workshop. The purpose of the meeting is to review educational programs already in place in the USA and to discuss coordination of efforts under The Laser Institute of America.Those interested in attending this meeting can contact David Belforte at tel.: (508) 347-9324, FAX: (508) 347-7737, or e-mail: [email protected].
Seminar to address international markets
Speakers at the 1996 Laser Marketplace Seminar, sponsored by Laser Focus World and held at Photonics West (San Jose, CA) on January 31, 1996, will discuss building successful businesses in today`s global marketplace. The keynote speaker, Dr. Claude E. Barfield, director of science and technology policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, will review trends in international high-technology trade and policy. A series of presentations by industry executives with expertise in many aspects of international market development will follow Dr. Barfield. Laser Marketplace `96 provides a forum for industry leaders to review key business and technology trends for the laser and electro-optics industry and includes detailed analysis of the worldwide laser market. Additionally, David Belforte, editor of Industrial Laser Review, and Irving Arons, senior editor of Medical Laser Report, will present information specific to the industrial- and medical-laser markets, respectively. For information call Sharon MacLeod at (603) 891-9224 or fax (603) 891-0574.
Also in the news . . .
New Focus Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) is accepting entries for its first annual student essay contest on photonics applications. Each of ten winners will receive a $1000 award. For more information, call (408) 980-8088 or fax (408) 980-8883. . . . The Data Systems division of Litton Industries (Agoura Hills, CA) has been selected as the Phase II contractor for the US Air Force Optical Processor--Enhanced Laser Radar program and has been awarded a contract valued at almost $2 million to integrate a high-performance optical-processor-based target-recognition system with a laser radar sensor.
Compiled by Bonnie Feuerstein