Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: RTEC) announced today that two of the industry’s leading suppliers of advanced packaging services have purchased multiple Firefly Inspection Systems. The Firefly System, with Rudolph’s patented Clearfind Technology, can detect defects that are almost impossible to find using conventional imaging techniques – helping to significantly reduce yield-robbing failures in both the front- and back-end of the semiconductor manufacturing process.
“Advanced packaging is rapidly becoming a critical differentiator for mobile and Internet of Things (IoT) device manufacturers with growth in multiple technology segments. This includes fan-out wafer level packaging, which Yole Développement estimates will have a compound annual growth rate as high as 50 percent over the next three years. We are excited to enable this rapid growth in advanced packaging through reduced cost and improved reliability of next generation technologies with our new Firefly inspection solution,” said Mike Goodrich, vice president and general manager of Rudolph’s Process Control Group. “The Firefly System provides a unique combination of defect sensitivity and substrate flexibility, in a single platform, which helps our customers reduce their capital investment requirements. By including our automatic defect classification TrueADC software and yield management Discover software, these systems will deliver a complete solution for process control and quick yield learning at critical steps in advanced packaging processes.”
Mike Plisinski, chief executive officer added, “Rudolph collaborates extensively with customers early in the development cycle in order to gain a deeper understanding of their specific challenges. In doing so, we are able to leverage Rudolph’s broad technology portfolio and experience to provide a more comprehensive solution to our customers. In recent years, Rudolph has made a conscious effort to cultivate strategic relationships across our customer base to transform our focus from supplying equipment to being a process control solution partner.”
Two manufacturing service providers, a foundry and an outsourced assembly and test (OSAT) facility, have placed orders for multiple Firefly Systems for fan-out and wafer-level chip scale packaging (WLCSP) applications. The Firefly System’s Clearfind Technology, which can see critical defects that may otherwise escape detection, was an important consideration in all cases. Such defects, including un-etch metal residues that can be obscured by graininess and low-contrast organic residues, are becoming increasingly important as vias and redistribution line (RDL) features continue to shrink. A total of seven systems have been ordered, all of which will ship this year.