Metrology

METROLOGY ARTICLES



Making EUV work, with a subsystem ear: Interview with SEMATECH's Stefan Wurm

09/30/2011 

Dr. Stefan Wurm, newly appointed director of SEMATECH's lithography program, tells SST what areas continue to be top-priority to SEMATECH, where progress is being made, and how SEMATECH's pursuits are changing along with its membership base.

Gartner: 2011 capex softer, 2012 messy

09/30/2011 

Semiconductor equipment spending in 2011 looks to be slightly weaker than anticipated, and is looking a lot softer in 2012 across the board, according to Gartner's new semiconductor capex forecasts.

Synopsys enhances automation on volume diagnostic products

09/21/2011 

Synopsys enhanced its TetraMAX ATPG and Yield Explorer to improve volume diagnostics flow and speed up yield ramp for IC manufacturing. Flow in TetraMAX ATPG and Yield Explorer is automated with a new direct connection between the two products.

Bruker adds nano-indenting, tribology with CETR buy

09/13/2011 

Bruker Corporation will acquire Center for Tribology Inc. (CETR) for an undisclosed sum. CETR will become a separate Tribology and Indenting business in the Bruker Nano Surfaces division, joining the atomic force microscope (AFM) and stylus and optical metrology (SOM) businesses.

ULVAC spectroscopic ellipsometer debuts for 300mm wafers

09/05/2011 

ULVAC Inc. uncrated the UNECS-3000A spectroscopic ellipsometer, which can measure the thinness of a thin film and optical constant. The noncontact film measurement tool targets semiconductor and liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing control.

KLAC debuts 20nm-node defect inspection system

08/16/2011 

KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) launched the eDR-7000 electron-beam (e-beam) wafer defect review system for chip manufacturing at the 20nm device nodes and below.

Electron microscope project SALVE enters Phase 2

08/10/2011 

Carl Zeiss Nano Technology Systems, CEOS GmbH, and the University of Ulm have completed 2 years of evaluation and are starting the second phase of the Sub Angstrom Low Voltage Electron Microscope (SALVE) project.

Nonvisual semiconductor defect metrology today, at 22nm, and below

08/09/2011 

Syn: Robert Newcomb from Qcept Technologies discusses non-visual defects in today's wafer fab processes, at 22nm, and in the advanced nodes below 22nm. As nodes shrink, more defects will escape optical metrology, he predicts.

LED, WLP, SiGe metrology challenges of today

08/04/2011 

LEDs, SiGe semiconductors, and WLP bumps each present their own challenges to metrology systems, says Alon Kapel, Jordan Valley Semiconductor.

SigmaTech TSV metrology wins Best of West

07/15/2011 

SigmaTech's UltraMap-TSV system won Best of West at SEMICON West, presented by industry association SEMI and Solid State Technology.

Top semiconductor metrology challenges from SEMATECH POV

07/13/2011 

At SEMICON West 2011, Phil Bryson, SEMATECH, covers the top challenges in semiconductor metrology at advanced nodes.

ASML tweaks immersion tool to improve imaging, overlay

07/13/2011 

ASML has added three extensions to its Twinscan NXT 1950i tool, to improve imaging, overlay, and system throughput.

Olympus inspects bonded wafers with IR microscopy

07/12/2011 

Greg Baker, Olympus Integrated Technologies America, discusses why the company chose to focus its efforts on IR metrology for defect inspection of bonded wafers. Olympus-ITA launched the latest 3DIR Metrology and Defect Review System at SEMICON West 2011, booth 1524.

EVG tool bonds 450mm SOI semiconductor wafers

07/11/2011 

EV Group (EVG) released a wafer bonding system for 450mm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers: EVG850SOI/450-mm. EVG's Paul Lindner discusses the tool, and challenges of 450mm and SOI.

TSV moves to "real engineering," but reliability data needed

07/11/2011 

Jan Vardaman, president and founder of TechSearch International, summarizes highlights from her SEMICON West presentation on TSVs, speaking to RDL development, LED packaging, and TSV-alternative PoP.

KLAC joins SEMATECH EUV efforts

06/21/2011 

KLA-Tencor will join SEMATECH-led efforts to identify and eliminate defects in EUV lithography, including mask metrology infrastructure and metrology source development.

Cosense ultrasonic liquid level detectors best mechanical float switches

06/21/2011 

Cosense launched the SL 900 Series of Ultrasonic Liquid Level Detectors that detect and micro-measure ultrapure chemical fluids for semiconductor chip manufacturing.

Thin-wafer bond/debond metrology from EVG opens process control, supply chain possibilities

06/21/2011 

EV Group (EVG) added an in-line metrology module for its EVG850TB/DB automated temporary bonding and debonding systems.

Metryx joins semiconductor equipment assessment group SEAL

06/14/2011 

Metryx will work with IMEC and Intel via the joint European Semiconductor Equipment Assessment Leveraging Innovation (SEAL) project to assess high-resolution mass metrology viability at 20nm and smaller nodes.

CMP metrics improved by undiluted slurry data

06/02/2011 

Figure 3. Ceria delivery monitor >120hrs. (SlurryScope data of undiluted extended run measurements of slurry LPC). SOURCE: Vantage TechnologyThe requirement for CMP slurry to perform consistently during the wafer polishing process has resulted in a push on the part of IC manufacturers to improve slurry metrics. Marty Mason, Vantage Technology Corp., explains how on-wafer slurry conditions can differ from slurry measurements, and new advances to rectify measurements.




WEBCASTS



Environment, Safety & Health

Date and time TBD

The semiconductor industry is an acknowledged global leader in promoting environmental sustainability in the design, manufacture, and use of its products, as well as the health and safety of its operations and impacts on workers in semiconductor facilities (fabs). We will examine trends and concerns related to emissions, chemical use, energy consumption and worker safety and health.

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Wafer Processing

Date and time TBD

As the industry moves to 10nm and 7nm nodes, advances in wafer processing – etch, deposition, planarization, implant, cleaning, annealing, epitaxy among others – will be required. Manufacturers are looking for new solutions for sustained strain engineering, FinFETs, FDSOI and multi-gate technologies, 3D NAND, and high mobility transistors.

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