Nikon's Litho Booster 1000 Improves Overlay Accuracy in 3D Chip Manufacturing

Nikon will release the Litho Booster 1000, a new alignment station, in January 2027, offering roughly 35% better measurement accuracy and about 10% higher productivity compared to its predecessor. The system works by scanning the entire surface of a wafer before it goes through exposure, the step where a chip pattern is projected onto the wafer, and feeding that measurement data forward to the lithography system so it can correct for any misalignment ahead of time, helping ensure that multiple layers of a chip line up precisely with each other, a process known as overlay correction.

This kind of tool is becoming more important as 3D chip structures, where components are stacked vertically rather than laid out flat, become increasingly common. They're already standard in CMOS image sensors and have expanded into NAND flash memory and logic chips, with growing adoption expected in DRAM memory as well. As these structures get more complex, manufacturers need much more detailed measurement of how wafers deform or shift out of position during lithography and during wafer-to-wafer bonding, the process of stacking and joining separate wafers together.

Alignment stations like this one measure wafer deformation and misalignment without slowing down production, and can be installed alongside lithography systems from Nikon or other manufacturers; Nikon has offered this ty...