08/01/2026
How does light enable digitalization? 💡📱 80 percent of all microchips manufactured worldwide are produced using optics from ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (SMT). More than 95 percent of chip structures are created with DUV lithography, which can be divided into two different types.
In dry DUV, there is air between the last lens and the wafer instead of liquid. It is primarily used in volume manufacturing and is favored because it allows for cost-effective production and low-maintenance machines. In immersion lithography, a fluid is introduced between the optics and the wafer. The key advantage is that liquids have a higher refractive index than air. This causes the light beam to be deflected more strongly, improving the resolution.