Issue

I wish to clarify one statement in your thoughtful editorial in the December 2000 issue of SST: "The first suggestion for adopting Lord Rayleigh's concepts for OAI for microlithography is credited to Chris Mack of Finle Technologies . . . in 1989."

PCTF technology catalog; Data integration and analysis brochure; SPM metrology reports; High-purity filter and flow restrictor brochures ...

Automated 300mm wafer inspection; Soft solder die bonder; Electrical characterization of conductive materials; 300mm spray cleaning tool ...

Industry-related events in February, March, April, and May 2001.

Cabot Microelectronics Corp., Aurora, IL, has named Kathleen Perry VP of research and development. Prior to joining the company, she was senior director of strategic technology at Applied Materials. ...

Intel's new wafer fab under construction in Leixlip, Ireland, will begin production in 2H02, a year later than originally planned. The microprocessor manufacturer said the delay will allow it to launch production there on 300mm wafers.

Steady progress in next-generation lithography, from resists for 193nm and 157nm systems to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and ion projection lithography, was reported at the Materials Research Society (MRS) conference in Boston recently.

The 46th annual IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting provided the industry with the latest updates on a variety of technical advances in semiconductor processing, but high-k dielectric discussions drew particular attention during the recent San Francisco event ...

Working with Japan-based sales agent Nissei Sangyo, ASM Lithography, Veldhoven, The Netherlands, has shipped its first lithography tools to the Japanese market, the first step in ASML's goal to achieve significant market share in Japan.

Japan consumes more silicon wafers than anyone else in the world. But its semiconductor sales don't match this consumption level. This small market share despite big production capacity indicates just how dependent Japan has become on selling low-priced chips.

Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology has a three-decade history, constantly creating the hope of enabling technology for next-generation, high-speed, or low-power-consumption devices.

Over the last few years, we have witnessed the birth and meteoric growth of Internet-based commerce, in both the consumer and business-to-business (B2B) sectors.

The picosecond sonar technique has proven to be a powerful tool for process development and production process monitoring for copper dual damascene fabrication.

The first part of this article, "Part One, Technology: How to make a sensor smarter," (October 2000) described some techniques for extracting more information about a wafer fab process by taking a fresh look at the behavior and interaction of metrology data over time.

A new technique using contacts applied by a wire bonder enables a wafer-level assembly and test approach throughout the entire final manufacturing process.

There is a benefit in adding water vapor to some sub-atmospheric wafer processing applications, including photoresist strip, metal etch, and rapid thermal processing.

Ultra-fine-pitch wire bonding requires higher stability of ultrasonic vibrations than achieved by current ultrasonic transducers.

Every time a mass flow controller in a multichamber installation shuts off or reopens, it can affect system pressure and flows. The combined effects of components reacting to pressure changes disseminates "crosstalk" through the system, disrupting low-flow MFCs in other chambers and tools.