PERFORMANCE OF THE IBM SYNCHROTRON X-RAY SOURCE FOR LITHOGRAPHY

The compact superconducting synchrotron X-ray source at the IBM Advanced Lithography Facility in East Fishkill, New York has been in service to customers since the start of 1992. Its availability during scheduled time is greater than 90%, with recent months frequently surpassing 95%. Data on the long-term behavior of the X-ray source properties and subsystem performance are now available. The full system continues to meet all specifications and even to surpass them in key areas. Measured electron beam properties such as beam size, short- and long-term positional stability, and beam lifetime are presented. Lifetimes greater than 20 hours for typical stored beams have significantly simplified operations and increased availability compared to projections. This paper also describes some unique features of this X-ray source and goes beyond a discussion of downtime to describe the efforts behind the scenes to maintain and operate it.