Burn J Lin, VP of R&D at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), has been recognized for his invention of liquid immersion lithography. The breakthrough allows the industry to continue using 193nm lithography for production at the 65nm node and below.
Lin was recently awarded the 2013 IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal for outstanding contributions to material and device science and technology. He already received the IEEE 2009 Cledo Brunetti field award which is given for contributions to miniaturization in electronics.
Immersion lithography was brought up by Lin in 2002 as a potential new method for sub-micron process technologies, when major equipment vendors such as ASML were pouring a considerable amount of effort and money to develop dry 157nm scanners.
Lin observed that replacing air with water in the gap between the lens and wafer surface provides higher resolution potential than with dry optics. This finding allowed TSMC to begin 12-inch wafer pilot production using 193nm immersion lithography around late 2004, and continued contributing the foundry's development of newer processes under 45nm.
"His perseverance in convincing the industry to make the change to immersion lithography has extended Moore's law from 40nm to potentially as low as 10nm. That at least 82% of all transistors currently in the world have been made with immersion lithography is a testament to Lin's impact," IEEE said in its brief introduction to Lin.
Lin joined TSMC in 2000, and led a small 50-person R&D team. His team at TSMC has expanded to 500 engineers.
Article translated by Jessie Shen
