Used Canon FPA-8000iW

The Canon FPA-8000iW is an i-line stepper lithography system designed specifically for advanced back-end packaging, released in July 2020. Its fundamental distinction from front-end wafer lithography systems lies in the substrate it processes: rather than circular silicon wafers, it handles large, square organic panel substrates—measuring up to 515×510 mm—to directly support the mass production requirements of Panel-Level Packaging (PLP).

Core Specifications and Capabilities: The system utilizes a 365nm i-line light source, features a variable numerical aperture (NA) ranging from 0.12 to 0.24, and employs a 1:2 projection magnification. It achieves a resolution of ≤1.0μm over a large exposure field of 52mm×68mm (or 55mm×65mm)—a level Canon identified as the highest resolution available at the time for equipment supporting panel-substrate packaging processes. With an overlay accuracy of ≤200nm, it is primarily designed for patterning requirements in packaging layers, such as the Redistribution Layer (RDL).

Engineering Adaptations for Panel Processes: Large panels are highly susceptible to warpage during handling and exposure. The FPA-8000iW incorporates a specialized platform and panel-transport system capable of correcting substrate warpage of up to 10mm prior to exposure—a critical engineering capability that sets it apart from traditional wafer steppers. Furthermore, the system supports die-by-die optical tilt-focusing, which maximizes the effective depth of focus when processing warped substrates.

Strategic Positioning: Rather than pursuing the extreme resolution required for front-end semiconductor manufacturing, this model combines "large-panel handling capacity" with "sub-micron-level packaging patterning." It is targeted at meeting the stringent production capacity and cost requirements for Panel-Level Packaging (PLP) in high-performance computing (HPC) applications, such as CPUs and GPUs for data centers.