Table of Contents
Solid State Technology
Year 1998
Issue 9
 | FEATURES
Industry Insights
The virtual corporation emerges
In a capitalistic system, it is generally accepted that the more important a corporation is in contributing to the system, the higher the corporation`s value. This value is derived by the relevance to the worldwide economy in which the sector or corporation is involved. This, in turn, defines the potential revenue and profit growths and, consequently, its capitalization on the financial market as shaped by the investment community.
Feature Products
Transparent film metrology tool
This transparent film metrology system, SpectraLASER UTF, can characterize ultrathin films (<40 ?) and ultrathin film stacks such as ONO and OPO. Through the RTI Ultrathin Film Support Program, the UTF system will maintain leading-edge repeatability, accuracy, and tool-to-tool matching. Incorporating Multi-Domain Production Ellipsometry technology, the system combines multiple angle of incidence data acquisition with multiple laser (and optional UV) wavelengths to measure a spectrum of optical p
Feature Products
FPD UV exposure system
The ProForm 9000 is a fully automatic flat panel display UV exposure system that aligns and precisely exposes large glass substrates, such as those used for plasma display panels. Its automatic horizontal material-handling system supports in-line processing or "island of automation." It can process 42-in. up to 78-in. diagonal displays, and its highly collimated, 8-kW scanning light source and mechanics provide manufacturers with an automated tool for the largest of future displays. Automatic ve
Feature Products
Polymeric die attach adhesive
THERMAXX 2600K thermal management adhesive has thermal conductivity measured at 20 W/m?K, eight to 10 times higher than existing conductive epoxy adhesives, and can be used in a wide range of packaging and assembly applications where heat dissipation is an issue. With theta JC values approaching those of metallurgical die bonds, 2600K may be used to replace the soft solders, lead alloys, and gold eutectic systems that are often used to conduct heat away from sensitive components. Exhibiting very
Feature Products
High NA step-and-scan
The FPA-5000ES2 step-and-scan system has a very high (0.68) numerical aperture that covers both 0.25 and 0.18-?m design rules, using 248-nm KrF excimer laser illumination. As a dual-era machine, the ES2 lets users apply their current DUV expertise to a new device generation, and it is dual-era for wafer size as well, allowing a field upgrade from 200- to 300-mm with a simple wafer-size conversion kit. Significant features of the system are: enhanced vibration isolation structure; lightweight, ve
Feature Products
Ion Implant metrology
Thermal-wave technology enables the Therma-Probe 500 metrology tool to measure directly on product or test wafers, immediately after ion implant. This ensures that the measurement reflects the performance of the implanter rather than subsequent steps - such as annealing - which are required with other techniques. Because the thermal-wave technique is optical, measurements can be made directly through screen oxides. A state-of-the-art pattern recognition system provides effortless measurement of
Feature Products
Wafer dicing and singulation
Wafer dicing and singulation
The NSX-250 is designed for dicing difficult semiconductor materials such as GaAs, SiGe, composites (SOI), ceramics, PZT, and other advanced materials. Also, its design allows for high-productivity and flexibility for CSP and fiber reinforced package singulation. It offers very good machine rigidity, a unique overarm spindle support, multilayer vibration isolation, Windows-based CNC controls, and MTIvision NT for automatic alignment, index correction, and inspection. The NSX series features age
Feature Products
Expanded CV test systems`
The System 80 Series of CV measurement instruments has been expanded to include I-V testing, analysis software, and integration with hot chucks and probers. These systems can provide simultaneous quasistatic and high-frequency C-V testing, improving measurement accuracy when characterizing interface trap densities and doping profiles in semiconductor wafers. The systems can perform similar tests on thin-film transistors used in AMLCD panels, and are particularly suited to very thin oxide testing
Feature Products
Expanded CV test system
The System 80 Series of CV measurement instruments has been expanded to include I-V testing, analysis software, and integration with hot chucks and probers. These systems can provide simultaneous quasistatic and high-frequency C-V testing, improving measurement accuracy when characterizing interface trap densities and doping profiles in semiconductor wafers. The systems can perform similar tests on thin-film transistors used in AMLCD panels, and are particularly suited to very thin oxide testing
Feature Products
Die sort handler`
Input for the DSH 5000 die sort handler system can be film frames, trays, or custom fixturing. The main pick-and-place movement uses a high-speed closed loop linear servo motor for speed and accuracy. The basic accuracy of the movement is ?1.0 mil with the option of ?0.1 mil available. Output of the system is configured to the customer`s requirements, with custom trays, waffle/Gel packs, and manual load or multiple cassette indexers available, as well as tape and reel indexers, flip chip, film f
Deposition
Low-temperature pre-metal dielectrics for future Ics
Somnath Nag, Raman Ramamurthy, W. Jack Lei, Christophe Monteil, Mark Hickey, Watkins-Johnson Co., Scotts Valley, California
Deposition
Advanced process control for epitaxial silicon
A precise and accurate Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-based epitaxial silicon characterization technique provides information on the doping profile as well as epi layer thickness. This comprehensive, model-based approach results in consistent, machine-independent measurements that will significantly ease the application of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-based advanced process control algorithms and computer-integrated manufacturing technology.
Deposition
Safety and environmental concerns of CVD copper precursors
Bob Zorich, Mary Majors, Schumacher Division of Air Products and Chemicals Inc., Carlsbad, California
Showreport
Rapid innovation in spite of slow market
In a technology-driven business such as chipmaking, the spirits of invention and innovation are always present, even when markets are soft, and this year`s show featured many examples. Indeed, a number of attendees pointed out that downturns are an ideal time for bringing new technology into play because chipmakers are looking for fresh ideas.
Productivity
E-beam inspection detects hidden defectsq
After years of being considered a technique of the future, automated electron-beam (e-beam) inspection of semiconductor wafers now offers clear benefits. New complexities in structures, materials, and fabrication techniques for sub-0.25-?m devices create the key challenges for inspection. Advanced automated e-beam systems detect process defects that cannot be captured by optical inspection or conventional e-beam techniques.
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DEPARTMENTS
Editorial
Where do we go from here?
When the semiconductor industry was escalating, full steam ahead, back in the 1994-1996 era, "experts" assured us that the upward trend would continue into the new millennium. (Those were the days, my friend, we thought they`d never end.) The gurus told us that the world would need a new fab coming on stream every week for the foreseeable future, in order to keep up with the market`s insatiable thirst for chips. The problem, according to those with clear vision, was that the worldwide boom in fa
Tech News
Interconnect:The new frontier
On-chip interconnect is now one of the most challenging areas of IC processing, though it has not always been so. Until the late 1980s, the greatest challenges to processing lay in forming the active device elements. Interconnects, composed primarily of aluminum and SiO2, were relatively simple and had clear evolution paths for development.
Tech News
NIST report shows billions spent for metrology capability
NIST report shows billions spent for metrology capability. The US semiconductor industry spent between $2.3 billion and $2.5 billion in 1996 to buy measurement tools and instruments used in support of chip manufacturing, according to a study commissioned by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Capital spending to acquire metrology capability is expected to grow to between $3.5 billion and $5.5 billion by 2001. Suppliers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment incur nearly
Tech News
Supercritical CO2 blasts photoresist
Cooperation between Los Alamos National Laboratory and Hewlett-Packard has produced a system that uses supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) fluid properties to remove photoresists from wafers. The beauty of this process is its elimination of toxic and flammable chemicals and reduction of water consumption. The system has been dubbed the Supercritical Carbon diOxide Resist Remover (SCORR).
Tech News
SLDRAM designing underway at MOSAID
International consortium SLDRAM Inc. has signed a contract with MOSAID Technologies to design the open standard that will establish the next generation of solutions for computer memory. MOSAID is an independent memory chip design house. The $3.9 million (Canadian) contract calls for MOSAID to create a reference design for a 400-Mbit/sec/pin 64-Mbit synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM) prototype.
Tech News
Ballistic conductance observed in carbon nanotubes
A team of scientists from Georgia Institute of Technology has observed ballistic conductance - a phenomenon in which electrons pass through a conductor without heating it. The observation was made at room temperature in multiwalled carbon nanotubes up to 5 ?m long. Walter de Heer, a professor in Georgia Tech`s School of Physics, said, "This is the first time that ballistic conductance has been seen at any temperature in a three-dimensional system of this scale."
Tech News
400-mm development on track
K. Takada, director of Japan`s Super Silicon Crystal Research Institute (SSi), said the first 400-mm CZ crystal growth furnace was installed last October and a second one will be in place in 1999 at SSi`s facility in Isobe, Gunma Prefecture, on the site of Shin Etsu Handotai`s Isobe Plant. Some 400-mm silicon crystals (mechanical samples) have already been shipped to the wafer shaping division of SSi.Takada spoke at the 8th International Symposium on Silicon Materials Science and Technology (par
Tech News
Effectiveness of water-based flourine scrubbing proven
Recent development work has shown the viability of water scrubbing, with and without a noncaustic additive, for treating corrosive fluorine gas effluent and essentially eliminating the potential of producing lethal oxygen difluoride (OF2). The process has been developed and patented by ATMI-EcoSys, Danbury, CT.
Tech News
Interconnect options grow
A tremendous amount of worldwide activity is focused around developing on-chip interconnects that can function at ever increasing circuit speeds. While copper conductors and low-k dielectric insulators will be used in the future, it is too risky and expensive to change both at once. Immediate next-generation processes will either change one of them, or neither by extending current processes with more efficient signal routing.
Tech News
Modeling the yield of mixed-technology die
The negative binomial model for yield prediction has several shortcomings when applied to devices that contain a mixture of different types of circuitry. This article describes those weaknesses, and proposes a simple methodology for improving the accuracy of the model when used to forecast the yield of such mixed-circuit devices.
Product News
Pattern-generation system
The MEBES 5000 is an electron-beam raster-scan pattern-generation system that meets the accuracy and throughput requirements of the 0.18-?m mask generation. With the new system, the user retains control of the design grid, writing strategy, and exposure parameters, allowing the maskmaker to optimize results for leading-edge mask production, as well as for mask development. High speed is one benefit of the 5000 - it permits production of complex 0.18-?m device generation masks as much as eight ti
Product News
Shaped-beam reticle writer
The ZBA31H+ is an electron beam reticle writer designed to expose the new 230-mm mask standard. The lithographic performance of the ZBA tool has been acceptedfor maskmaking of 0.25- and 0.18-?m production requirements. The variable-shaped beam approach allows users to enhance productivity without sacrificing accuracy and pattern quality. A fully automatic blank handling and loading sub-unit is an integral part of the system, permitting a degree of automation comparable to mass-production optica
Product News
DUV step-and-scan lithography
Designed for =0.18-?m device capability, the Micrascan III+ step-and-scan system has a 55-nm tool-to-tool overlay, low optical distortion, 180-nm resolution, and throughput up to 90 wafers/hour. Field size is 26 ? 34 mm. Advanced projection optics and 248-nm excimer laser illumination are combined with AXIOM off-axis alignment technology to provide wide process latitude in exposure and alignment. In addition to these enhancements, the Micrascan III+ offers the benefits of previous members of the
Product News
RGA for HV/UHV applications
The QualiTorr Orion Compact (QOC) residual gas analysis (RGA) system is usedin single-chamber tools as well as on cluster tools, providing continuous monitoring in loadlock chambers and base pressure testing of process chambers. It can also be used for process monitoring in evaporation, molecular beam epitaxy, ion implant, and other high-vacuum processing applications. QOC has a complete electronic control unit on the sensor head with a direct connection to the host computer, and runs on field-
Product News
Wall-mounted gas monitor
The Guardian family of wall-mounted continuous gas monitors is available for carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, oxygen, chlorine, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride, nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, hydrogen, and phosphine. Standard features include digital display, NEMA 4? enclosures, output relays, and multilevel audio and visual alarms. The Guardian controller is available with up to four remote sensors that respond fast and are unaffected by temperature and humidity changes.
Product News
Pressure regulators
The 700 Semiconductor Series pressure regulator is precision-machined from low-sulphur 316L stainless steel VAR and delivers ultrahigh-purity, high-pressure, low-hazard gases - such as halocarbons, carrier gases, and cylinder purge gases - free of contributing contamination and particulates. The 710 Series pressure regulator includes a poppet directly connected to the diaphragm to ensure positive shutoff, and is well suited to handling higher-hazard gases such as chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen chlo
Product News
Chemical dispensing
GenStream is a completely modular system for dispensing TEOS and other source chemicals. It saves fab space by offering top access to all major connections, and also provides easy access to 5-gallon Dynamax containers. Using a shuttle-shuttle operation, the system permits continuous chemical delivery and prevents impurity buildup. Its recipe screen allows for chemistry quantity, pressure, and refill time programming, so that the user can tailor operations to individual needs. Olin Microelectroni
Product News
Plasma source
The Stinger is a new plasma source for the Performance Enhancement Platform (PEP) systems. It uses the same microwave source technology that is featured in the Millennia 300-mm integrated clean system, and it offers high removal rates and high throughput for 200-mm photoresist, residue removal, and isotropic etch applications. Users can now develop their 300-mm integrated clean processes on this company`s 200-mm hardware, facilitating an easy transition to 300 mm. The Stinger`s core technology i
Product News
Thermal processing system
The four-tube, horizontal Cyclone thermal processing system processes wafers up to 150 mm. Users can select from two "flat zones" for use with existing tubes (760/1010 mm): 30/40-in. flat zone for 6-8-in. wafers and 24/30-in. flat zone for 12-in. wafers. Both provide process capabilities in both high- and low-temperature applications. The Cyclone also features the proven Helix II heating elements and Argus gas delivery systems, a fully integrated PC-based DDCprocess controller designed to ensure
Product News
Hardware cleaning
The CO2 MiniBlast Model SDI-5 is a CO2 blasting unit that can use any form of dry ice, including blocks, pellets, and nuggets. It cleans coater cups, teos valves, ammonium nitride, etch parts, and implant parts without the use of solvents and without damage to the substrate. The user can select the best media for each application, pellets being preferable when eliminating thick contaminants, and granulated particles being used for thinner coatings. Dry ice disappears on impact with the surface.
Product News
Ultrasonic tank energy meter
This multi-frequency ultrasonic meter detects energy in ultrasonic cleaning tanks from 0-100 w/gal and also detects and displays frequencies from 0-200 KHz. Overall energy distribution and transducer performance can be mapped. The meter is battery-operated with 100 memory locations. It is PLC compatible with RS-232 downloading capabilities of date, time, average cavitation energy, standard deviation, maximum, minimum, and frequency. PPB Inc., Palo Alto, CA; ph 650/851-4387, fax 650/851-4388.
Product News
Silicon slicing
Silicon slicing
The Multi Wire Saw (MWS) line of wire saws consists of five models and is designed for automatic slicing of super-hard materials and ceramics, including silicon ingots for the semiconductor industry. The new technology improves on interior- or circumferential-cutting machines, as fine wires are used instead of blades, providing for a high material yield and shorter cutting times. Four new features contribute to the system`s speed and quality of cutting: a pivoting head system increases the area
Product News
VLSI test system
The VS 2000e is an optional configuration of the high-pin-count Valstar Series VS 2000 test system. The 2000e matches all the capabilities of the 2000 for testing the complex logic, embedded memory, and embedded analog found in today`s high-pin-count VLSI chips. Specific applications include microprocessors, controllers, advanced chipsets, ASICs, and FPGAs. Low-power, stabilized CMOS technology packs the full 1024 I/O pins and data rates of 200 MHz into <3 m2 and consumes <16 kW of power. Combin
Product News
Digital marking system
MARKEM Q2001 OptiMark operates at speeds 40-100% faster than its predecessor, the Q2000, and combines the high quality and package integrity of pad printing with the flexibilty, low cost, and high yield of digital-to-print marking. It uses a sealed CO2 laser that transfers ink from the OptiMark film onto the substrate, creating a permanent, opaque mark without altering the package surface. The system offers black or white marks, including high-contrast 2D symbology and bar codes that are consist
Product News
Low-k dielectric
Accuspin T-23 LOSP (low organic siloxane polymer) is a non-etchback inorganic material for gapfill applications with the goal of retaining low-k values over a wider process window than cage HSQ. For temperatures between 380 and 450?C, the k values for T-23 range between 2.8 and 3.0. By contrast, k values for HSQ have been reported between 3.0 and 4.0 over the same temperature range. When deposited on a 1-?m line and space pattern, T-23 showed >90% degree of planarization for a 0.4-?m-thick film
Product News
Loadlock wafer elevator
Typical applications for this elevator include wafer processing and inspection, wafer furnaces, robotic wafer arms, transport, and FPD processing. It features the Super Smart Ball Bushing bearing guidance system and uses precision-ground, hardened-steel shafting that is available in stainless steel or plated for corrosion resistance. The precision preloaded ball screw assembly can also be plated for corrosion resistance. All of the aluminum parts are anodized for long life. Optional stainless st
Product News
Fab management and tool integration
Quality Management Component (QMC) and Tool Integration Component (TIC) are the first elements of a factory-wide control system called FAB300 (Factory Automation Blocks), which is designed to control fully automated 300-mm fabs. QMC allows for the collection of production and final test data to enable personnel to track quality throughout the facility, and permits automated responses and proactive control by providing closed-loop quality management. TIC provides for plug-and-play integration of
Product News
Recirculating etch bath filler
The Ulti-Etch filter provides high flow rates and rapid bath turnover in new-generation etch baths, while ensuring high-efficiency particulate removal and low extractable levels. It uses the crescent-shaped Ultipleat filter design, which combines high voids volume with increased filter area. Constructed from a hydrophilic PVDF medium, Ulti-Etch has a 0.1-?m removal rating in recirculation mode. PVDF, a naturally hydrophobic medium, is hydrophilized by chemically surface modifying the medium surf
Product News
Microfiltration technology
Exxflow is a microfiltration technology that builds a dynamic filtration layer from the natural precipitate of solids present in the process solution on a fabric membrane. The system is well suited to treating and recycling wastewater that contains suspended particles present in wafer manufacturing processes. Systems can be installed on wafer dicing saws reclaim, backgrind, polishing, CMP and other slurry waste streams. Kinetico Inc., Newbury, OH; ph 800/633-5530, www.kinetico.com/esd.htm, e-mai
Product News
CMP slurry filtration
Due to their tangential flow, Spiraltek filters meet the special requirements of CMP slurries. Unlike conventional filters, they retain gelatinous material and prevent premature plugging. Agglomerations are swept from the filtering surface and held inside the filter, leaving the surface free for more filtration. The filters have very high dirt-holding capacity, providing up to six times the life of standard pleated cartridge filtration. Osmonics, Minnetonka, MN; ph 800/848-1750, fax 612/933-0141
Product News
Etch bath filter
The STyLUX polyethersulfone membrane filter is designed to control contamination in etch baths. Without changing housings, the filter`s exceptional flow rate allows for upgraded filtration to 0.1 or 0.04 ?m from 0.2 or 0.1 ?m, with increased turnover rates. The hydrophilic filter eliminates pre-wetting problems and offers low metals extractables. Meissner Filtration Products Inc., Camarillo, CA; ph 805/388-9911, fax 805/388-5948.
Product News
Clean bench
Clean bench
The Heraguard workbench ensures a particulate-free environment for the testing and packaging of electronic components. A horizontally conducted flow of extremely pure, multifiltered air prevents particles from entering the work area, through the use of a pre-filter and Hosch filter with a retaining power of 99.999% of 0.3-?m particulates. The bench is available in widths ranging from 1-1.9 meters, two interior heights, and two depths. Heraeus Instruments GmbH, Hanau, Germany; ph 49/6181-35300, f
Product News
Liquid particle counters
The PLCA-700 series liquid particle counters provide 0.1-?m sensitivity in all types of liquid with 100% counting efficiency. Operating on-line, the counters give high-sensitivity measurements from 0.1-1.0 ?m. High flow measurements cover a range of 0.2-5.0 ?m at rates to 150 ml/min. As many as six channels of data can be displayed in real time. Compact sampling units permit off-line batch measurement. Both a suction-type module and a pressurized version handle a 0.2-10-?m range, and both sampli
Product News
Second cassette for wafer prober
The PS21 automatic prober now has a second cassette option that is available for both dc and RF wafer probing, allowing users to test 50 wafers continuously. The more automated process also lets users reject and sort wafers from one cassette to another. The standard PS21 accepts cassettes for wafer loading through a hinged front door. Cassettes are mounted on a slide-out tray for easy loading/unloading. The second cassette is located on the side of the prober and is accessed through a hinged lid
Product News
Grazing angle objective
This new grazing angle objective uses a high angle of incidence to provide sensitive reflection absorption measurements of the sample surface. It can be used in conjunction with this company`s FT-IR microscopes to analyze ultrathin coatings, films, contaminants, or molecular monolayers on reflective substrates. Benefits include shorter collection times, enhanced sensitivity, and better visual quality. Spectra-Tech Inc., Shelton, CT; ph 203/926-8998, www.spectra-tech.com.
Product News
Wafer Inspection and defect review
This system allows an automated approach to patterned wafer inspection for process diagnostics of 300-mm processing tools. Defect review is possible at high magnifications and in various imaging modes, including confocal. The instrument includes two SEMI E 15.1 load ports, a robotic 300-mm wafer handler on a linear track, and a wafer pre-aligner. All components are software-controlled by a Windows-based operating system. Leica Microsystems Inc., Deerfield, IL; ph 847/405-7026, fax 847/405-0030,
Product News
Automated TEM sample preparation
AutoFIB is a new control software for automated transmission electron microscope (TEM) sample preparation, using a focused ion beam (FIB), that makes sample preparation less labor-intensive. The simplest technique is unattended milling of the initial "rough" trenches on a number of samples. The next level is the use of multiple beam current steps, including image recognition routines within the automation software to allow high-accuracy registration of the milling to the final section location.
Product News
Plasma process characterization
Series 1000 EQP is a high-sensitivity combined ion energy analyzer and quadrupole mass spectrometer designed expressly for the characterization of plasma processes. It combines a high-performance, triple-filter, quadrupole mass spectrometer with a 45? sector field energy analyzer, integral RGA ionizer, and wide dynamic range pulse counting Channeltron detector, providing mass range capability up to 3000 amu, energy range options to 1000eV, and externally floatable to 10 KeV. Standard configurati
Product News
Thin film and surface analysis
The I-Elli2000 multiple wavelength imaging ellipsometer is designed for analysis of multiple layer systems. Its real-time imaging capability makes it possible not only to characterize the film in numbers but actually to see the structure and quality of the sample. By limiting the analysis to a user-defined region, valuable information is gained about refractive indexes and film thicknesses with a very high spatial resolution (repeatability for Psi and Delta is 0.02?, lateral imaging resolution i
Product News
Defect imaging and CD measurement
The HCS-UV optical system extends the range of fully automatic inspection and measuring systems with UV capabilities. A non-immersion, highly corrected UV objective, PL APO 150? with 0.90 NA, generates high-contrast images of features down to 130 nm. Defect detection will automatically extend to the 100-nm region. This imaging technique is fully automated and allows push-button comparison of UV images with white light confocal, ICR-contrast, darkfield, and brightfield. A real-time tracking laser
Product News
Resistance/resistivity measurement
The LEI 1510 contactless measurement system, for wafers up to 200-mm, is equipped with a three-range measurement head that measures high-range, low-range, and extra low-range samples. It can measure silicon wafers (bulk Si, metallizations, epi on high-resistivity substrates) and GaAs wafers (epi, metallizations, annealed ion implants on semi-insulating substrates) for sheet resistance, bulk resistivity, and thin film thickness. A 55-point mapping plan can be achieved in 150 sec for a 100-mm wafe
Product News
Thin film stress and flatness tool
The FSM128LC2C is a fully automated film stress and flatness tool that handles 300-mm wafers. It comes in an open cassette version or a fully FOUP integrated system, and up to two buffers are available. The system features auto wafer thickness measurements, auto dual laser switching, and autocalibration. Throughput is >70 wafers/hr. Among the options are wafer thickness profiling, including total thickness variations and product wafer measurements. Frontier Semiconductor Measurements, San Jose,
Product News
Ellipsometry for 300-mm wafers
The SD3400 ellipsometer is a thin-film measurement system for substrates of 200- or 300-mm that can determine the thicknesses, refractive indices, and absorption constants of thin films from 0 nm to a few microns. In both production and R&D environments, the SD3400 analyzes transparent films such as oxides, nitrides SiPOS, and ARC, as well as absorbing films such as a-Si, polysilicon, and polyimide. Simultaneous evaluation of multilayers (ONO, OPO or CMP films) can be achieved using the infrared
Product News
Tip evaluation system
Available for all NanoScope Dimension and MultiMode scanning probe/atomic force microscopes, this tip evaluation system determines whether the tip meets a selected sharpness criterion or should be replaced. The package includes the proprietary tip evaluation software, as well as a roughness standard that is scanned as part of the evaluation. Based on the analysis, the software presents a worst-case tip sharpness in numerical and graphical form, including displaying an image of the tip itself. Di
Letters
Praise from the Smithsonian
I have had the opportunity to read the two supplements (Southwest Supplement, Literature Showcase) to your October 1997 issue. They were very informative! Through collecting 30 years (1964-1994) of technology, I was deeply interested in Solid State Technology for several reasons: to confirm/deny information I currently have and may question; to follow the technology before/after the 30 years; to read about GaAs breakthroughs; and of course, to see if you are following the experimental work at th
Letters
Readers flip for flip chip
Readers flip for flip chip
I subscribe to Solid State Technology. I am mostly interested in flip-chip package technology and am working in that area. I carefully read Pete Burggraaf`s article "Chip scale and flip chip: Attractive solutions" (July, p. 239), which gave me a lot of information. Could you give me more information on polymer flip-chip technology, such as a reference or company that might supply these materials?
Letters
Clarifications
In "Metrology/inspection market growth," World News, July, p. 26, the second sentence should have read that "the market grew to $1.101 billion in 1997, up 6.3% from $1.035 billion the year before."
Services
Virtual ion implant service
Remote Assist, a virtual service system offered by an ion implant supplier, uses video conferencing technology and a helmet equipped with a camera and microphone to link fabs with the supplier`s product experts for emergency or preventive maintenance of equipment. At the fab, an engineer wearing the helmet begins a Remote Assist session, sending real-time audio and video assessments of the problem area to the supplier. The supplier`s personnel see what the engineer sees and can then transmit cur
Services
1998 MRS catalog
This catalog provides a listing of books, videotapes, journals, and periodicals available through the Materials Research Society (MRS). Topics in electronic materials and processing include beam processing; graphite; multilayered structures; plasma and plasma processing; semiconductors; superconductors; and thin films and interfaces. Featured publications include the MRS Internet Journal of Nitride Semiconductor Research, a peer-reviewed, archival, electronic journal that features technical pape
Services
Crystal and glass wafering
New wafering capabilities, including the processing of crystals and glasses such as quartz, fused silica, silicon, infrared materials like ZnSe, and others, are being offered by an ISO 9002 company. By using ID sawing technology and maintaining kerf loss as low as 0.011 in., more pieces/in. are produced. Technology transfer and consulting are offered to facilities that require in-house operations. Valley Design Corp., Westford, MA; ph 978/692-1971, fax 978/692-9549, e-mail [email protected],
Services
Sensor shipping program
A sensor manufacturer introduces Rapid Ship, a program designed to ship stock sensors the same day, when orders are placed by 2 pm. The company stocks more than 65 sensors with 4.5 million possible combinations and a range of terminals and compression fittings. Custom orders ship within 72 hours. Watlow Gordon, Marketing Communications Department, 12001 Lackland Rd., St. Louis, MO 63146.
Services
SIMS profiling
This SIMS depth-profiling service is aimed specifically at low-energy implant qualification and thin-layered devices. Using impact energies as low as 100 eV, Applied SIMS Profiling offers a depth resolution of better than 1 nm, and can provide this from within 1 nm of the sample surface to more than a micron in depth. This permits accurate dosimetry and profile shape determination on ultrashallow implants as low as 200 eV boron in silicon. Applied SIMS Profiling, Department of Physics, Universit
Services
IC Manufacturers reference
IC manufacturers reference
Strategic Reviews provides detailed profiles of approximately 200 IC manufacturers and suppliers. Each company review features an account of key management personnel, financial performance, fab facility data (e.g., wafer size used, capacity, feature size), supplied IC products, strategic alliances, and significant IC product and facility announcements. The volume will include 1997 year-end financial data. Price: $1190, book or CD-ROM. IC Insights Inc., Scottsdale, AZ; ph 602/348-1133, fax 602/34
Services
1998
1998 SIA resource guide
The SIA 1998 Annual Report & Directory, which provides comprehensive information on major industry trends and producers, is now available on the Internet. Product and corporate information about Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) members and more than 350 chip-related companies includes locations of fabrication facilities; annual sales; number of employees; corporate officers; web sites; product listings; essays on economic trends; technology developments; foreign trade issues; and environ
Services
Semiconductor careers on-line
Developed and maintained by a provider of internet software and services, this web site lists career opportunities within the semiconductor industry. Information is regularly compiled from more than 700 company home pages; nearly 2500 job opportunities are available to the browser. Further, browsers can access companies` home pages through site links for more detailed information, company profiles, etc. Onscreen data are updated by the service every week. ezeeNET Infotech Pvt. Ltd., mailto:ezeen
Services
On-site wafer management service
Principle Solutions is a service program designed to help increase the efficiency and effectiveness of wafer management activities throughout a fab. Under the program, all aspects of wafer handling in a fab, including cleanliness, functionality, inventory, and equipment interface, can be contracted to an outside provider`s materials management personnel. Two tiers of service are available. In the fab management tier, the provider`s team will ensure that carriers are available and suitable for pr
Services
SPIEs 1998-1999 continuing education catalog
This 88-page catalog offers a complete listing of SPIE`s regional short courses. Short courses in microelectronic manufacturing include the physics of metrology instruments; plasma processing; submicron device physics and technology; advanced silicon wafer cleaning; chip reliability; and advanced stepper modeling, characterization, control, and matching. Short courses in microlithography include resist thickness bake, exposure, and development control; lithography process control; advanced topic
Literature
Spectral data acquisition brochure
This six-page, color brochure highlights the SpectraSense/NCL spectral data acquisition system for spectroscopic applications, including fluorescence, laser, and LED characterization; optics testing; Raman; absorption; transmittance; and reflectance. For the researcher, the NCL system permits control of two scanning monochromators, data acquisition with up to three detectors, photon counting, and control of motorized accessories such as filter wheels; the industrial customer will gain a full-pr
People
FSI International Inc.
FSI International, Inc.
FSI International Inc., Minneapolis, MN, has appointed Ajit Rode senior VP and GM of Semiconductor Systems Inc., a subsidiary. He has held executive management positions with Spectrian, Novellus, Tektronix, and TriQuint Semiconductor.
Market Watch
On the brink: Flat panel monitors
The development of flat panel displays (FPDs) in a variety of technologies has been the major focus of display industry researchers for the past 10 years. Although the first portable computers featured sub-10-in. monochrome displays, the end of the 1990s brings the promise of desktop monitor-sized color FPDs in a variety of sizes and pixel formats. In fact, impressive prototypes as large as 40-in. diagonal have been shown, a territory that until recently was the exclusive domain of cathode ray t
New Products
On-chip interconnects- gigahertz and beyond
Conventional VLSI on-chip interconnect systems will soon hit multi-GHz performance barriers. Metal planes/meshes and larger cross-sectional area signal lines can provide an impedance-controlled environment to solve the long lossy line problem. Planes also help distribute power with minimal AC/DC noise. As an additional feature, integration of passive elements into on-chip interconnects will be very useful in realizing fully integrated "system-on-chip" integrated circuits.
Asiafocus
Japan FPD producers see sales up
After a difficult fiscal year, in which Japanese flat panel display (FPD) producers missed their overall sales goals by more than 20%, manufacturers expect display sales to soar during the current year. Capital spending will go in the opposite direction, dropping by more than half, as manufacturers digest large capacity additions made last year.
Asiafocus
Japan tool firms cut FY forecast
A new assessment of mid-term equipment market conditions from the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ) paints a less-than-rosy picture of the next two and a half years, with Japanese equipment companies expecting their aggregate sales to dip this year and see only modest recovery in 1999 and 2000.
Asiafocus
Nan Ya follows TSMC in Taiwan capital spending cuts
Taiwan foundry Nan Ya Technology has cut capital spending plans this year by 63%, to NT$4 billion (US$116 million), while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC) has finalized its new 1998 spending plan at US$920 million rather than the US$1 billion reported earlier.
Asiafocus
Acer cuts DRAM output
Acer Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc. (ASMI), the former TI-Acer joint venture, has said it will make a significant cut to its DRAM output as it shifts to logic, other memory devices, and custom foundry services. The move is part of a technology licensing agreement ASMI now has with IBM, under which IBM will transfer its advanced logic process technology to the Taiwanese chipmaker. Under the agreement, ASMI will begin producing a 0.25-?m logic process in 4Q98; by 1Q99, the firm hopes to reach vo
World News
Worldwide highlights
SIA chip sales figure down in May. After several months of marginal declines, worldwide chip sales saw a sharper drop of nearly 4% month-to-month in May, with sales for the month dipping to the $10 billion level for the first time in a year and a half. All world regions saw sales decline, with the Americas shrinking 4.6% from April levels (see table). On a year-to-year basis, sales ran 12.7% below May 1997`s $11.46 billion, with Americas sales down 17.9%, and Japan sales down 19.3%. Europe has s
World News
USA
Applied Materials says it will have a quarterly order rate of just $600 million to $675 million in its current 3Q, substantially lower than its earlier guidance of $950 million, and below Wall Street estimates that had been in the $800 million to $900 million range. Applied said its customers are delaying orders, rescheduling deliveries, and cutting spending on support. Factors cited are the Asian financial crisis, weak PC sales, and DRAM overcapacity.
World News
Japan
Yen falls further against the dollar. The Japanese yen has slipped to a seven-year low against the US dollar. Some observers are looking for a continuation of the yen`s weakening trend. This will tend to make Japanese exports, including fab equipment, less expensive, while making it harder for Japan-based chipmakers to buy imports.
World News
Asia/Pacific
Wall Street sees further tool declines in Asia. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is making a $300 million cut in its 1998 capital budget, and Singapore rival Chartered Semiconductor is pondering cuts of its own. Taiwan has been seen as the strongest growth area in this difficult year for wafer fab equipment suppliers; while there still will be substantial spending there, IC companies appear to be backing away from levels anticipated just a short time ago. As a result of these moves
World News
Europe
With two CMP tool orders slated to ship later this year, Germany-based Peter Wolters is moving into the CMP market, and has formed a new subsidiary - Peter Wolters CMP Systems, Rendsburg, Germany - to manage the business. The unit will ship its first 300-mm CMP system, the PM300 APOLLO, in the fourth quarter to the Dresden-based Semiconductor300 pilot line. Separately, the company has logged an order for its PM200 Gemini 200-mm system from Siemens, also in Dresden. The system offers processes fo
Eurofocus
Eastern Germanys
Often referred to as "Silicon Saxony," this eastern region of Germany has attracted more than 350 microelectronics firms in the past few years due to its central location, educated work force, and government financial incentives. The Motorola-Siemens joint venture Semiconductor300 and Advanced Micro Devices have set up shop here.
Software
Data-handling issues for OPC
Five years ago, most industry experts dismissed full-chip optical proximity correction mask enhancement as utterly impractical for volume production. The compelling need for resolution-enhanced photomasks, however, was strong enough to drive the development of techniques that make full-chip optical proximity correction not only possible, but practical for a large class of layouts. This technique can stress many of the hardware and software components involved in fracturing, tape out, mask writin
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