Top Products of 2005
12/01/2005
Following are the Top Products of 2005 in semiconductor/thin-film processing as selected by Solid State Technology’s editorial advisory board, chosen from those featured each month in Product News.
ASML’s Twinscan XT:1700i scanner
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The Twinscan XT:1700i system is a 193nm immersion scanner capable of volume chip production at the 45nm node, with a numerical aperture of 1.2 and throughput of 122wph. The catadioptric lens design combines refractive components with mirrors to create a hyper-NA lens. www.asml.com
JEOL USA Inc.’s JAMP-9500F microprobe
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The JAMP-9500F field-emission scanning Auger microprobe achieves a minimum probe diameter of 3nm for SEI and 8nm for Auger imaging, with analytical resolution 10× the spatial resolution of x-ray systems, making it suitable for identifying killer defects in interfaces and for analyzing coatings and composites. www.jeol.com
Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates’ VIISta HC implanter
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The VIISta HC single-wafer ion implanter is designed for low-energy implant applications in sub-90nm processing. Dual-magnet ribbon beam architecture allows for a simple one-dimensional wafer scan, and achieves low particle performance compared to single-magnet systems. A decel mode configuration reportedly increases throughput. www.vsea.com
Novellus’s Inova NeXT deposition tool
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The Inova NeXT 300mm metallization system for copper/barrier seed applications integrates both physical-vapor deposition and ion-induced atomic-layer deposition, laying tantalum nitride and other metals as a highly conformal and ultrathin barrier film. Enhancements include improved barrier nonuniformity and sidewall asymmetry in filling 45nm structures. www.novellus.com
FEI Co.’s Titan 80-300 S/TEM
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The Titan 80-300 scanning/transmission electron microscope, dedicated to corrected microscopy, yields atomic-scale imaging with TEM information limits <0.7Å and STEM resolution <1.0Å without aberration-corrector upgrades that can be added to extend the point resolution down to the information limit. www.feicompany.com
Suss MicroTec’s NPS300 stepper
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The NPS300 nanopatterning stepper is available as a manual-load or fully automated system, with up to 300mm wafer handling and automated template pickup that allows different templates to be printed on the same wafer. It achieves sub-20nm imprinting resolution for hot and cold embossing, with 250nm overlay accuracy. www.suss.com
OnWafer Technologies’ MaskTemp SensorPlate wireless sensor
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The MaskTemp SensorPlate employs unintrusive techniques to monitor critical process zones for photomask makers. The processing/collection module, sensors, and power plant are integrated into a standard 6×6 mask blank for plasma etch, resist processing, electron-beam writers, scanners, and wet-processing steps. www.onwafer.com
Tokyo Electron’s Telius SP etch/metrology system
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The Telius SP etch system features an etch reactor with iODP integrated metrology to offer wafer-by-wafer measurement for critical dimensions. It also provides profile information for fault detection and process control for advanced dielectric and polysilicon etch. Manufacturing cycle time is optimized by conducting metrology measurements in parallel with etching processes. www.tel.com
KLA-Tencor’s Puma 9000 inspection tool
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Designed for sub-90nm nodes, the Puma 9000 can be extended beyond traditional laser scattering applications to some critical etch layers, complementing brightfield technology. Streak technology combines a linear multipixel sensor with a high-capacity imaging computer to break through limitations in darkfield detection capacity. Flexible configurations are available for specific applications. www.kla-tencor.com
Mattson Technology’s Aspen III eHighlands dry strip system
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The Aspen III eHighlands dry strip system is designed for frontend and backend processes, including photoresist strip over low-k materials. It features an inductively coupled plasma source and bias capability that independently controls ion energy and density at low pressures to minimize damage, and is available in both 200mm and 300mm versions. www.mattson.com
Oxford NanoScience’s 3DAP 3Dprobe
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The laser three-dimensional atom probe (3DAP) provides atomic-scale analysis of semiconductor structures by evaporating individual atoms from materials samples in an ultrahigh-vacuum chamber at cryogenic temperatures (<100K), measuring their mass, and providing position based on time-of-flight and spatial location. A delay-line detector achieves a timing resolution of 1 nsec for high detection efficiency. www.oxfordnanoscience.com