Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials has announced the opening of its immersion lithography facility intended to support the R&D of materials, including photoresists, anti-reflectant coatings (ARCs) and topcoats.

The company invested around $60m in the new facility, which is housed in the company's Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

The company installed an ASML Twinscan XT:1900Gi 193nm scanner, a 300 mm track system, and defect and metrology tools.

Jim Fahey, president of the company's microelectronic technologies group, said, "We now have the same equipment our leading-edge customers are using, which gives us the ability to correlate with customers and optimise our materials for their applications beyond the 45nm node."

The $60m investment in the ATC is in addition to the original $30m facility, which opened in 2003.

Staff - Semiconductor International