IN Brief:
- The DSP-110 is specified for 1.5µm line-and-space resolution with overlay accuracy of no worse than ±0.3µm.
- Throughput is rated at 72 panels per hour on 510 × 515mm substrates, approximately 40% above the DSP-100.
- Nikon plans an April 2027 release and an optical-system upgrade path to 1.0µm patterning.
Nikon has confirmed the specifications of its DSP-110 digital lithography system for semiconductor advanced packaging, setting a release date of April 2027. The maskless tool offers 1.5µm line-and-space resolution and a rated throughput of 72 panels per hour when processing 510 × 515mm substrates. Nikon says the redesigned optical system provides approximately 40% more throughput than its DSP-100, although the earlier machine offers a finer native resolution of 1.0µm.
In June 2026, Nikon had targeted at least 65 panels per hour for a 1.5µm system, with a release during its 2027 financial year. Naming the DSP-110 and increasing the stated output to 72 panels an hour takes that development programme beyond its earlier preliminary figures, while leaving the optical architecture and underlying application substantially unchanged. April 2027 remains a scheduled release date, not confirmation that customer installations have begun.
Digital lithography replaces a fixed photomask with an electronically controlled pattern. Nikon has previously described its approach as directing light onto a spatial light modulator before projecting the selected image onto a substrate through an optical system. Eliminating dedicated masks can change the economics of design iterations and lower-volume substrate variants, although the substrate must still pass through the coating, exposure and development operations needed to form a usable wiring pattern.
The DSP-110 is aimed particularly at redistribution layers and high-density connections within advanced semiconductor packages. Redistribution layers route signals between chip contacts and the coarser connections required by substrates or other package components. As chiplet assemblies and large interposers increase the number of connections within a package, the lithography equipment must pattern sufficiently narrow lines while retaining accurate registration across successive processing steps.
Nikon specifies overlay accuracy of no worse than ±0.3µm, a separate measure from the minimum line-and-space dimension. A tool can print narrow features yet still produce unacceptable interlayer connections if consecutive patterns shift relative to one another. Maintaining registration across larger panels is complicated by substrate handling, thermal changes and departures from perfect flatness. The manufacturer’s stated overlay figure should therefore be distinguished from end-to-end package yield, for which no customer production data has been supplied.
The supported formats include 310 × 310mm, 510 × 515mm, 600 × 600mm and 730 × 920mm substrates, as well as 300mm wafers and other configurations. Those dimensions offer packaging engineers several panel and wafer options, but Nikon quotes 72 panels an hour specifically for the 510 × 515mm format. Applying that rate to the largest supported panel or to wafers would be an unsupported extrapolation.
A redesigned optical system also provides a larger focus margin than the DSP-100, according to Nikon. Focus margin describes the range of displacement around the intended focal plane within which a defined pattern can still be reproduced to its required dimensions. A wider margin can help when panels vary in height or flatness, but its useful effect depends on the resist, substrate condition and the customer’s pattern tolerances. Nikon has not released a numerical depth-of-focus value for the new configuration.
The 1.5µm patterning specification is less fine than the DSP-100’s 1.0µm capability, with Nikon optimising the optical design around greater throughput at the wider dimensions. Nikon says the DSP-110 can later be converted to 1.0µm resolution by exchanging the optical system. That option could preserve an equipment investment if redistribution-layer designs become denser, although the cost and time required for conversion have not been disclosed.
Customer acceptance testing will still need to establish pattern uniformity, equipment uptime and compatibility with individual materials and process sequences, particularly where large panels move through repeated coating and exposure stages. The specified throughput, overlay and resolution figures describe separate aspects of the tool, and none alone establishes a production line yield. Nikon has not announced orders, shipment volumes or qualification results for the DSP-110; the next concrete milestone is the planned April 2027 commercial release.
