Agilent Technologies has released a deep-UV optical coating offering, which addresses the growing need for highly accurate and reliable beam delivery in medical and semiconductor photolithography systems.
Agilent’s vertically integrated design-to-production facility includes in-house fabrication (shaping, grinding and polishing) and coating (deep-UV to near-IR) capabilities. Comprehensive metrology and use of the latest equipment to monitor and control pressure, temperature and rate ensure accurate and repeatable production processes.
Reflectivity and damage-threshold testing have been successfully completed, and in independent tests Agilent has qualified multiple coating chambers, thus ensuring product availability.
‘UV-wavelength lasers and lamps are driving high-volume requirements for optical components,’ said Vince Barich, operations and marketing manager for Agilent’s precision optics group.
Barich added: ‘Challenges for system designers include coating compaction and optic lifetime. Agilent has developed proprietary high-throughput UV coatings that increase component lifetime while minimising compaction, thereby extending the time between maintenance cycles and reducing system down time.’