June 28, 2012 — Solid State Technology and SEMI today announced the finalists for the 2012 “Best of West” awards, recognizing important product and technology developments in the microelectronics supply chain. Held in conjunction with SEMICON West, the largest and most influential microelectronics exposition in North America, the Best of West finalists have been selected based on their financial impact on the industry, engineering or scientific achievement, and/or societal impact.

The 2012 Best of West Finalists are:

• The QC‐TT defect inspection system from Jordan Valley Semiconductor UK Ltd. solves key issues in the use of 450mm wafers in a manufacturing environment, where wafers are subjected to more handling steps and the thermal stresses on larger wafers are much higher. This makes the wafers more prone to breakage, which can be predicted using the QC‐TT. The system can also identify the slip and other crystalline defects in wafers, which may not have catastrophic effects on the substrate integrity but will contribute to a reduction in yield.
• The NSR‐S320F Dry ArF 193 nm scanner from Nikon Precision, Inc. is based on the company’s Streamlign platform, to satisfy the demanding non‐immersion overlay accuracy, stability, and ultra‐high productivity requirements essential to cost‐effective 22 nm applications and beyond. The Streamlign platform, which was first employed on immersion scanners, provides industry‐leading overlay accuracy ≤ 3 nm with throughput ≥ 200 wafers per hour (WPH).
• X-Plane Analysis from Nordson DAGE is an option for the company’s DAGE range of X-ray inspection systems. It uses a tomosynthesis technique to create 2-D X-ray slices in any plane of a semiconductor device or printed circuit board assembly. The user can get a very high level of detailed information about potential failures without the need to destroy the sample,  usually necessary with traditional CT systems.

The selection of finalists was made by a prestigious panel of judges representing a broad spectrum of the microelectronics industry.

The Best of West Award winner will be announced during SEMICON West on Wednesday, July 11, 2012 at 1:00pm.

About SEMI

SEMI is the global industry association serving the nano- and microelectronic manufacturing supply chains. SEMI member companies are the engine of the future, enabling smarter, faster and more economical products that improve our lives. Since 1970, SEMI has been committed to helping members grow more profitably, create new markets and meet common industry challenges. SEMI maintains offices in Beijing, Bengaluru, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble, Hsinchu, Moscow, San Jose, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.semi.org. 

About PennWell

PennWell Corporation is a diversified business-to-business media and information company that provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for the following industries: Oil and gas, electric power, water and wastewater, renewable, electronics, semiconductor, contamination control, optoelectronics, fiberoptics, enterprise storage, converting, nanotechnology, fire, emergency services and dental. Founded in 1910, PennWell publishes over 120 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 60 conferences and exhibitions on six continents, and has an extensive offering of books, maps, web sites, research and database services. In addition to PennWell’s headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma the Company has major offices in Nashua, New Hampshire; Houston, Texas; London, England; Mountain View, California; Fairlawn, New Jersey, Moscow, Russia, and Hong Kong, China.