A high power excimer laser designed and produced by RSLaser passed factory acceptance on March 29, making it the first high power laser produced in China, according to local media.

The product fills the gap in the field of excimer laser technology in China with the advantages of high quality and low cost, breaking the long-term market monopoly of foreign manufacturers in this technology product.

“The large-scale instrument you are now seeing is an excimer laser independently developed by RSLaser. It is mainly divided into three layers and each layer has different roles,” explained Jiang Rui, deputy general manager of the Production, Research and Development Center at RSLaser.

According to Jiang, the upper layer is called the high-voltage pulse power system. It mainly provides the electron energy required for laser conversion. This is a high-intensity electronic energy, so this is a strong electric module. The middle layer is the key optical core module, which is to convert high-voltage electrical energy into high-intensity light energy. The bottom is the key control module and has some support modules, including for water and gas distribution. It can be seen as the "brain" of the entire laser as it controls its operation.

RSLaser was established in July 2016 with registered capital of 120 million yuan ($19.06 million), and is backed by the Institute of Optoelectronics and the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The company focuses on boosting innovation and technological development.

RSLaser has three main products, namely a 193nm excimer laser for lithography, a 248nm excimer laser for lithography, and an immersed 193nm excimer laser. The company has mastered the core technology of the reclocked 4kHz 193nm excimer lithography light source and developed a prototype. Such styling light source products are mainly used for lithography machines with nodes below 90nm and 65nm. Such lithography machines occupy a dominant market position and are gradually occupying more markets in more i-Line upgrade fields. With the advancement of Industry 4.0, more chips for industrial intelligence applications will be completed by 90nm lithography machines. The technical foundation of the 248nm product is highly correlated with the 193nm, the technical difficulty is small, the development cost is low, and the cycle is faster. In the cavity design and optical design, only minor changes are required, and product development can be quickly completed.

RSLaser, being one of the leading forces in the development of the lithography machine parts technology innovation center of BDA, has independently developed the excimer laser technology and products. It has become a domestic high-level professional excimer laser technology solution provider. The excimer laser system has broken the long-term monopoly status of the United States and Japan. It is currently the only R&D team engaged in photolithography excimer lasers in China. So far, 70% of the national patents in this field have come from the team.

According to Yang Junhong, general manager of RSLaser, the first high-energy excimer lasers will provide services to the Institute of Optics and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the largest institute in the southwest region of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, once it passes factory inspections and acceptance.

A high power excimer laser designed and produced by RSLaser passed factory acceptance on March 29. It is the first high power laser developed and produced in China. [Photo/bda.gov.cn]