Product News
09/01/2006
Point-of-use copper abatement
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The Aquareus system, jointly developed with BOC Edwards, abates copper from a CMP system’s effluent stream. It concentrates copper by a factor of 200:1, providing >99% removal efficiency and over 3000 hours MTBF. A proprietary fluidized bed ion exchange resin technology handles high flows from a broad range of CMP chemical slurries. The company claims the system can save up to $0.15/wafer, or 30% in treatment costs, over centralized back-pad systems. Metron Technology Inc., San Jose, CA; ph 408/563-0647, www.metrontech.com.
Next-gen immersion lithography tool
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The NSR-S610C immersion lithography tool (NA=1.30) utilizes the “tandem-stage” platform used with the company’s previous-generation immersion system, which combines a moving wafer-exposure stage with a dedicated calibration stage. The system uses a proprietary nozzle design, and an airless fluid handling process (300ml/min) for water containment instead of an air curtain, which Nikon claims contributes to evaporation and deforming of the wafer holder, thus impacting the overlay. The company reports a single tool overlay specification of <6.5nm and 4.5mλ aberrations in the three-mirror catadioptric projection lens. Nikon Corp., Belmont, CA; ph 650/413-8533, www.nikonprecision.com.
ArF source for 45nm node
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The XLR 500i targeting 45nm production immersion photolithography replaces the conventional power amplifier stage with a “recirculating ring” that delivers a step-function (1.5×) improvement in pulse energy stability vs. previous-generation ArF products, and doubles the lifetime of two key modules within the MOPA-based ArF laser light sources, according to the company. Improved dose performance can also reduce the number of laser pulses consumed during the wafer exposure process. Cymer Inc., San Diego, CA; ph 858/385-6327, www.cymer.com.
Metallization for 45nm contacts
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The 300mm Endura iLB II system addresses new liner/barrier challenges with the transition to 45nm-and-below nodes, including thin NiSi films in gate and contact applications, and tighter requirements for step coverage and contact resistance. The system combines PVD titanium and preclean technologies to reduce resistance in critical contact structures by up to 40%, and a PVD eSIP Ti chamber offers 30% more wafer bottom coverage than the previous system, according to the company. A Siconi Preclean chamber provides a soft chemical clean process to remove oxide without loss of thin gate NiSi film. Applied claims the system is proven low Rc with effective clean compatible with NiSi layers, and meets low thermal-budget requirements for integration with NiSi contacts. Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, CA; ph 408/563-0647, www.appliedmaterials.com.
300mm photoresist dry strip
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The Gamma Express 300mm photoresist dry strip system offers both front-end-of-line (FEOL) and back-end-of-line (BEOL) resist removal for 65nm and 45nm processing. The system is compatible with advanced silicide and ultralow-k films, and supports conventional bulk strip, high-dose implant strip (HDIS), and C4 packaging requirements. The company says throughput is 300wph for bulk strip applications, and 150wph for HDIS. Novellus Systems Inc., San Jose, CA; ph 408/943-9700, www.novellus.com.
Fab process scheduling
iLog Fab PowerOps software schedules 300mm fab front-end process areas including diffusion, photo, etch, thin films, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), and implant, as well as re-entrant flows for photolithography processes. The system can create forward-looking optimal production schedules for all tools, and new schedules every five minutes, to evaluate real-time conditions and quickly respond to unplanned events such as tool interruptions, recipe qualifications, and hot lots. ILOG Inc., Mountain View, CA; ph 650/567-8000, www.ilog.com.
New FIB system for 90-65nm apps
The V600FIB focused ion beam system, replacing the company’s FIB200, targets applications for 90-65nm semiconductor devices, such as circuit modification, cross-sectioning, sample prep, and failure analysis. It features a 30kV ion column, versatile gas delivery system, and five-axis tilt stage, and accommodates a variety of samples from packaged parts to 200mm wafers. FEI Co., Hillsboro, OR; ph 503/726-2695, www.feico.com.
High-rate UV laser
The Tristar UV laser series targets applications requiring high throughput and highly-focused spots, such as memory repair and flat-panel tilting. It can be configured with >800mW of 355nm power at 100kHz, with <25nsec pulse width and a peak power stability of <5%. Repetition rate can be lowered to 50kHz, to achieve power of >2W, or increased to rates of ≥150kHz to allow faster processing speeds. Spectra-Physics, Mountain View, CA; ph 650/961-2550, www.spectra-physics.com.
High-volume scatterometry metrology
The NovaScan 3090Next-SA standalone high-volume scatterometry-based metrology system features full pattern profiling in 2D/3D, and thickness measurement of dielectric, polysilicon, and thin condustring layers on either multilayer stacks or silicon or metal stacks. Improved throughput of 150wph enables support for higher sampling rates, while keeping up with high-throughput process tools such as lithography tracks. Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd., Rehovot, Israel; ph 97/2893-87505, www.nova.co.il.