Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH comprises the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group of ZEISS and develops and produces equipment for the manufacture of

microchips An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny M ...

. The company is majority owned by Carl Zeiss AG, with a 24.9% minority stake by

ASML Holding ASML Holding N.V. (commonly shortened to ASML, originally standing for Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography) is a Dutch multinational corporation founded in 1984. ASML specializes in the development and manufacturing of photolithograph ...

. The headquarters of the group are located in

Oberkochen Oberkochen is a municipality (officially a town, despite its size) in the Ostalbkreis, in Baden-Württemberg, in Germany, central Europe. Name The name "Oberkochen" consists of the two German words "ober", meaning "above" or "upper", and "Ko ...

, Germany, with additional sites in the German cities

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

, Rossdorf, Dublin (USA), Peabody (USA) and Bar Lev (Israel). As of September 2021, the total workforce in the seven sites is approximately 5,200.

History

In 1968, ZEISS supplied the optics for a circuit printer for the first time. About nine years later, the world's first predecessor to a modern wafer stepper, produced by David Mann (later GCA), was equipped with optics from Carl Zeiss. In 1983, the first lithography optics from ZEISS were used in a wafer stepper from

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

. Just under ten years later, ZEISS and

carve-out company ASML entered into a strategic partnership. The Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group was established by ZEISS in 1994. Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH and its subsidiaries Carl Zeiss Laser Optics GmbH and Carl Zeiss SMS GmbH followed in 2001. The construction of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology plant of ZEISS in Oberkochen started the same year, and was completed in 2006. In 2010, the semiconductor area achieved revenues of over a billion euros for the first time. Effective October 2014, the subsidiaries Carl Zeiss Laser Optics and Carl Zeiss SMS GmbH were merged into Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH.

Product areas

Semiconductor Manufacturing Optics

The ZEISS business group develops and produces optics for semiconductor production. Its core business is lithography optics that form the centerpiece of a wafer scanner. The development and manufacture of projection optics and the development of illumination systems take place at the

site, while the production of most types of illumination system is located in

. In addition to lithography optics, the business group is specialized in numerous other optical products, including optical components for

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

s that are used as light sources for

lithographic Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

systems.

Photomask Systems

This area develops and manufactures systems that analyze and repair defects on

photomask A photomask is an opaque plate with holes or transparencies that allow light to shine through in a defined pattern. They are commonly used in photolithography and the production of integrated circuits (ICs or "chips") in particular. Masks are used ...

s and measure and optimize defined mask properties. The photomask contains all the structure information that will be imaged on the

wafer A wafer is a crisp, often sweet, very thin, flat, light and dry biscuit, often used to decorate ice cream, and also used as a garnish on some sweet dishes. Wafers can also be made into cookies with cream flavoring sandwiched between them. They ...

with light.

References

External links