SEMICON West '00—July 10, 2000—In San Francisco, Calif. today, August Technology introduced two high-speed wafer inspection systems for defects down to 0.5 µm.
By pennNET Staff
Category Archives: Semicon West
SEMICON West '00—July 10, 2000—Making its debut today in San Francisco, Calif., Semicon West show, the Spectrum E automated modular batch wafer cleaning system from Semitool Inc. is the latest version of the company's Spectrum advanced surface preparation system.
By pennNET staff
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—July 10, 2000—Applied Materials used Semicon West today to announce more than 21 new 300mm products. From CVD systems to fab automation to CMP systems, the company's rollout new products covered 80 chip manufacturing applications. According to the company, the update of its entire product line will give customers a comprehensive tool-set for implementing 300mm production.
By Michael Sciannamea
Canon's new scanners, the FPA-5000ES3 and FPA-5000AS2, can handle critical layers down to 130nm and 100nm. Both scanners can extend into the low-k lithography area. The scanners have faster reticle changers and job-loading programs. They incorporate SMIF (standard mechanical interface) and allow easier access to the machines, minimizing the total usage of expensive clean room space.
By pennNET Staff
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Fremont, Cal.—July 7, 2000—LAM Research Corp. released a new poly etch tool that the company says can perform all critical etch applications in the same chamber.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—July 7, 2000—Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. will introduce a new photolithography at the Semicon West show, July 10 – 12.
MIDDLEFIELD, CT—July 6, 2000—Slated to debut at the upcoming Semicon West show in San Francisco, Calif., the new IM-12 Probe Mark Analysis System from Zygo is designed to analyze the size and position of probe marks and offers an optional feature to inspect probe needles.
By pennNET staff
By Mark Diorio
It's that time of year again when we all have Semicon West on our minds or agendas. We are anxiously waiting to see the latest and greatest in semiconductor manufacturing – specifically as it relates to packaging, assembly and test. Some of us may be planning only a visit, while others are making last-minute preparations for their exhibits. While Semicon Singapore (held in May) has done a fine job of attracting the key buyers and sellers of many back-end manufacturers and suppliers from around the world, the big one – the one where everyone pulls out all the bells and whistles both technically and socially, the one many hate but never miss – is still Semicon West.
Semicon West has become larger than life. It is held just 45 minutes north of Silicon Valley and, regardless of what some may say, the semiconductor industry is still very well entrenched, continuing to grow and prosper in this region. The show continues to attract the Who's Who in semiconductors, and that in itself is the draw for attendees and exhibitors alike.
The number of companies requiring space at Semicon West is staggering. As a matter of fact, it has come to the point where either some companies must be turned away or a new venue will have to be selected. In both cases, this would be detrimental to the industry at large. Often, the youngest and newest companies are turned away because the waiting list for small booths can be immense. This is unfortunate, as these companies often have very creative ideas and products that address our current and future needs.
 Exhibitors and guests check out the floor at the San Jose Convention Center during 1999's SemiWest exhibition. |
An idea that rears its head every so often is the concept of moving the venue farther away from Silicon Valley to a place that can accommodate the show's expanding needs (maybe even under one roof). Great idea … unless attendance goes down or key players are lost. After all, although the semiconductor executives of Silicon Valley are indeed open-minded business people and technologists, they are creatures of habit running on tight and hectic schedules. It's easy to jump in the car and zoom up to San Francisco or San Jose on a moment's notice when a meeting gets cancelled and there is a hole in the schedule. It is quite another to arrange for airplanes, limos and extended time away from the office.
Have you noticed the size of some of the booths? Some companies display entire assembly lines (and I say this in the plural) in a booth. These companies must be thinking that their customer runs a plant and has never seen an assembly line before. A bigger booth is not always better. What is important is the content of innovation and the ability to adequately demonstrate or discuss it with your buyers. Perhaps consideration could be given to limiting or reducing booth size at the existing location so more companies can exhibit. This seems like such a fundamental idea that I am sure someone thought about this long before I did. But it probably got vetoed by the SEMI board members who tend to represent the older, more established companies that like to have large booths to reflect their company's prosperity and enhance their image to their customers and shareholders (while at the same time downplaying their latest innovations or lack thereof). The SEMI employee who suggested it is probably stuck in a closet somewhere documenting specifications.
Someone once had a great (and modest) idea about taking the whole show onto the Internet (ah, yes, it was me in my May 1999 column!). Sometimes great ideas are slow to materialize, but most likely the next generation of semiconductor executives will opt for this solution. I think that one of the difficulties in trying this today is that it would be necessary to retrain show personnel because a different skill set is required. The skill set that show management needs to employ today in dealing with venue, facilities, logistics, various unions and shipping companies is considerably different from the computing skills and technical acumen required to put on an Internet show. So, we probably have to table this idea for now.
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Regardless of some of the show's difficulties, it is still the best show in the world when it comes to the semiconductor industry. I am continually amazed by the new products I find at this show. And because the industry has been on the rise for the last year or so, I would expect this show to be as big as any when it comes to new product introductions, inventions and innovations (provided we don't discourage too many of those new, up-and- coming companies from attending). I am sure that many of you are waiting with bated breath to see and discover new ways of reliably flip chip assembling large silicon die. Or perhaps you have been waiting to see those new underfills dispensed. Maybe you'll take a look at those flex tape BGAs that everyone has been talking about. How about the flexible DUT board system using laser programmable card inserts? Whatever it is you discover, I'd like to know about it and have your opinion. If you come across something that you feel is really outstanding and is beneficial to advancement of packaging, assembly or test, please let me know. Just send me an e-mail with the company's name and some reasons for your enthusiasm. I'd appreciate hearing from you.
So, go off to the show. Meet your colleagues. See your suppliers or customers. Enjoy yourself. Have a cocktail if you wish. It's been a good year to bask in the sun. We don't know when we might have this euphoria again. See, hear and talk. And remember … if you find a product or a company that you really feel WOW! about, let me know.
Have a good show!
AP
Mark Diorio, chief operating officer, can be contacted at MTBSolutions Inc., 2685 Marine Way, Suite 1220, Mountain View, CA 94943; 650-960-3203; E-mail: [email protected].
In its ongoing effort to find more room for the Semicon West trade show, the SEMI board of directors has decided against moving the annual gathering out of Silicon Valley, opting instead to study a further segmentation of the event.
The decision, which came during the board's annual policy and planning meeting last week, ends the recent debate about whether the trade show should be moved to a new venue, such as Las Vegas, where all exhibitors could be housed in a single location. Semicon West has been held in two locations since 1997, when SEMI split front- and back-end exhibitors between the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco and the San Jose Convention Center, respectively.
While the 1997 split did not bring long-term relief to the show’s space problems, Stan Myers, SEMI president, said a contemplated move to Las Vegas has been ruled out for the “foreseeable future.” The trade group had secured first right of refusal for show dates at the Las Vegas Convention Center beginning in 2002, but now has decided to relinquish those dates. “It's premature to make a decision to move the show,” Myers said.
Instead, work will begin immediately to study a number of options for segmenting the show; some of those options include a further breaking out of the exposition by sector, perhaps running the segmented events simultaneously or at different times. Other options include controlling growth of the show by limiting the number of booths. Myers noted that an examination of SEMI's membership by region, size, product, and technology is on tap. “The final answer is we've got to get more space. It's a very complex situation. As we speak, the industry is reinventing itself,” he said, citing fundamental shifts in the market, such as those driven by foundries. “All of these things will come into play as we figure out how to best serve the industry.”
Technology utilizes minienvironments to improve ultraclean wipers
Upper Saddle River, NJ
A technology developed by The Texwipe Co. (Upper Saddle River, NJ) aims to clean up the process of manufacturing wipers used in critical environments.
The Vectra process, which will be announced this month at Semicon West, is a proprietary system that utilizes minienvironments to produce ultraclean wipers in successive steps rather than in batch processes in industrial-scale washers and tumble dryers. According to company officials, the resulting wipers` cleanliness levels are significantly higher than those achieved to date through conventional cleanroom laundering methods.
The company says early testing indicates that Vectra wipers are 10 times cleaner than Texwipe`s highest-end wipers, which include sealed-edge wipers for cleanroom Classes 1 through 10. The cost of Vectra wipers is comparable to that of other high-end wipers on the market today.
“This system has gotten rid of the limitations of the [currently used] technology and improved the quality of the product,” claims Jeff Tyrrell, Texwipe`s product manager for wipers. “In other cleanroom laundries, there`s no quality check until the product is done. Vectra identifies defects immediately.”
The Vectra system has been in development for six years. It consists of modules for specific cleaning functions, which are housed in minienvironments connected to each other. During cleaning, the process is monitored by sensors using in-line statistical process control. As wipers are fabricated, they are automatically stacked and inspected using machine vision, which uses a special camera and computer hookup to photograph the part of the wiper to be inspected and then compares it against programmed quality parameters. Texwipe says it can scan for more than 100 defects within a fraction of a second and accept or reject a wiper according to set criteria.
“It`s completely automated, so Vectra-produced wipers will show minimal variation,” claims Steve Paley, Texwipe president. “And unlike humans, computers never get tired. They provide the same quality of inspection over any time period.”
While the industry acknowledges there will never be a wiper that carries no risk of contamination, Texwipe believes Vectra will meet the increasingly clean requirements of next-generation users.
“Texwipe long ago realized the fundamental limitations of the cleanroom laundering process. The laundering process both removes and creates contamination simultaneously. Hand stacking and inspecting wipers is labor-intensive and fraught with opportunity for error,” Paley explains. “We realized that this technology would not be clean enough to meet the needs of the future, so we started from ground zero and engineered a cleaning system for the 21st century.” — TGW
Standards Committees Meet at SEMICON West
By Lisa A. Coleman
San Francisco, CA–The SEMI International Standards divisions are meeting at the 25th annual SEMICON West conference and exhibition this month. The Contamination in Distribution Systems Subcommittee will discuss ballot results for four test methods relating to gas filters, distribution systems and gas panel systems. In addition, the Minienvironment Contamination Standards Validation Program will discuss results of implementing two new standards, SEMI E45 and E46, specifications for determining inorganic and organic contamination from minienvironments, respectively. The minienvironment committee will also address further applications for E45 and E46 including validation of cleaning procedures of minienvironments (pods, storage boxes, etc.), and monitoring the degradation of cleanliness minienvironment usage.
The standards committee will meet from July 10 – 13. SEMICON will be held July 11-13, at Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. n