In response to growing market demand, Dow Corning Electronics today announced that it is more than doubling its production capacity for the silicon polymer resin used to produce an innovative new bilayer photoresist for semiconductor manufacturing.

In December 2006, Dow Corning and TOK announced that they had jointly developed a bilayer photoresist using a proprietary Dow Corning silicon polymer resin in the imaging layer, which provides improved etch selectivity for chip makers' 193 nm lithography processes. Then in December 2007, the companies announced that the bilayer photoresist is now being used in production by a leading memory chip manufacturer.

"With Dow Corning's capacity expansion, bilayer photoresist will become available to a broader group of semiconductor device manufacturers," said Jeff Bremmer, global market manager with Dow Corning Silicon Lithography Solutions. "By increasing our resin production capacity, we intend to accelerate the adoption of silicon-based lithography materials."

Photoresist is a light-sensitive material that becomes either soluble or insoluble after exposure to light, allowing portions to be selectively removed during subsequent etching processes. Dow Corning's silicon resin, when combined with photosensitive materials, allows chip makers to use thinner photoresist layers. That, in turn, improves pattern resolution, which allows manufacturers to produce smaller circuit patterns.

Dow Corning has been working with lithography material suppliers to develop silicon-based resins for 193 nm photoresists and antireflective coatings since entering the market in 2004.

To learn more about customized silicon resins for advanced lithography applications and how they can enable enhanced resolution and improved cost efficiencies, see Dow Corning at the 2008 SPIE Advanced Lithography exhibition on February 26 or 27 in booth #112.

About Dow Corning

Dow Corning Corporation (http://www.dowcorning.com) is a globally integrated provider of materials, application technology and services, and is focused on providing innovative technologies that help its customers to invent the future. Dow Corning Corporation is equally owned by The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) and Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW).