Mitsui to invest in nanotube pellicles used in chip lithography

Mitsui Chemicals is commercializing a new use for carbon nanotubes: pellicles, or covers, that are used to protect semiconductor wafers during the photolithography process for etching circuitry. Mitsui plans to build a facility at its Iwakuni-Ohtake Works in southern Japan that will make 5,000 nanotube-based pellicles per year. The company says they are better than current silicon-based pellicles at resisting the harsh conditions of lithography conducted with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. Mitsui licensed its EUV pellicle business from ASML, a Dutch builder of EUV-based lithography machines.