EUVL Reticle Factory Model and Reticle Cost Analysis

The key issues in reticle manufacturing are cost and delivery time, both of which are dependent upon the yield of the process line. To estimate the cost and delivery time for EUVL reticles in commercial manufacturing, we have developed the first model for an EUV reticle factory which includes all the tools required for a presumed EUVL reticle fabrication process. This model includes the building, support tools and sufficient “in-line” process tools for the manufacture of (more than) 2500 reticles per year. Industry specifications for the tool performance are used to determine the number of tools required per process step and the average number of reticles fabricated per year. Building and capital equipment depreciation costs, tool installation costs, tool maintenance costs, labor, clean room costs, process times and process yields are estimated and used to calculate the yearly operating cost of the reticle factory and the average reticle fabrication cost. We estimate the sales price of an EUV reticle to be $60K for non-critical levels and $120K for “leading-edge. The average reticle fabrication time is calculated for three different process-line yields.