Westwood, Massachusetts–ADE Corp., working on a development program with Super Silicon Crystal Research Institute Corp. (SSi) in Japan, says that it has produced a system capable of detecting 40nm particles–required for meeting the 0.10-micron technology node. The company’s complete edge-grip handling system, capable of measuring 200mm, 300mm, and 400mm wafers, is the latest application of ADE’s patented advanced wafer inspection system (AWIS) technology.

“One of SSi’s main requirements for high-quality wafer production was the detection of approximately 40nm particles derived from the 0.13-micron flatness target,” explains Kiyosha Takada, director and general manager of SSi. “This was acknowledged as one of the most difficult goals of the SSi program. Because of the difficulty of this task, SSi decided to put this development into the hands of ADE, which had extensive experience and achievements in this field. Therefore, in August of 1997, SSi visited ADE CEO Robert Abbe and his engineering team to ask them to accept this challenging request. Now, after 3 years, ADE has proven the ability of its inspection equipment to detect 40nm particles and has met 100% of the program’s objectives.”

“The advancement of ADE’s patented AWIS technology used in our partnership with SSi has been directly transferred to our 200mm and 300mm edge-grip inspection systems,” says ADE CEO Robert Abbe. “Our relationship with SSi has had an invaluable impact on ADE’s development of tools to support the 0.10-micron generation and beyond. ADE would like to thank SSi for their support and guidance during the past 3 years.”