The March 2012 issue of Solid State Technology will feature "450mm wafer transition" from Dr. Brian Trafas, chief marketing officer at KLA-Tencor Inc. (KLAC). Sign up for Solid State Technology here to receive your digital edition. The following is a sneak preview of Dr. Trafas’ article:
The semiconductor industry’s wafer size transition from 300mm to 450mm promises higher yields, with more die per wafer. While 450mm will eventually lower die costs for semiconductor manufacturers, it will not happen without higher die yields. Advanced design rules, increased chip density, new immature process tools, tighter process windows, center-to-edge process variations and wafer edge defects all threaten the promised benefits of 450mm wafer fab. Process control will be critical.
Looking towards the 2018-2019 timeframe, the industry will be well into production at technology nodes smaller than 1X nanometer, furthering industry concern around the right time to move forward with significant R&D investment in 450mm production.
Read more in "Yield challenges & the 450mm learning curve" debuting in the March issue of Solid State Technology. The March issue features other metrology & test articles:
Packaging: Improved copper wire bonding
Bruker authors share how a 3D optical microscope was used in imprint studies aimed at process optimization and sampling.
Evolution or Revolution: Metrology beyond 22nm
SEMATECH investigates the metrology challenges of future nodes, including FinFETs.
Gas purification development
Entegris discusses metrology-aided gas purification for semiconductor chip manufacturing.