To All, Following press release was interesting. Go TNCR, GOOOO!
14:13 06-06-96
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 6,1996-- Tencor Instruments (Nasdaq:TNCR) today introduced the Prometrix UV-1270SE for precise measurement of single- and multiple-layer films used in semiconductor manufacturing. The new product combines an integrated SMIF indexer, a Class 1 minienvironment and an enhanced wafer handler with the company's proven ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE)technology.
With the Prometrix UV-1270SE, Tencor offers a turnkey film measurement
system for customers with exacting automation and cleanroom needs. It incorporates a fully integrated SMIF minienvironment and SMIF indexer with dual-wafer handling capability for greater throughput-at least 10 percent faster than that of its predecessor-in an ultra-clean atmosphere. Faster than a standalone SMIF, the integrated SMIF mechanism enables significant savings in facility costs by reducing system footprint and overall fab cleanliness requirements while streamlining automated communication flow.
Noted Paul Clayton, product manager, thin film products for the Film
Measurement division, "The Prometrix UV-1270SE is designed to provide
real-time feedback for process control in SMIF manufacturing environments.
Its combination of features is unique to the marketplace and can help our customers to reach new levels of accuracy and automation in film thickness measurement on semiconductor wafers." The system is currently installed at a major integrated circuit (IC) manufacturer in the Pacific Northwest.
Tencor reports that the new system's faster speed is due, in part, to its new, more robust wafer handler. Equipped with two pick-up fingers instead of one, the handler can prealign and pick up a stack of wafers to position them for measurement while simultaneously returning just-measured wafers to the cassette. In addition, the handler has slot-sensing capabilities that allow it to offer improved automation control and reduces yield loss by checking for cross-slotted wafers that could be damaged if handled incorrectly. The new handler also incorporates improved electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection that enhances the robustness of the UV-1270SE.
Equipped with an advanced Pentium microprocessor, the Prometrix UV-1270SE also provides the comprehensive data analysis capabilities offered by the entire UV product line. This analysis can be performed on-line or off-line to customers' manufacturing automation systems to ensure that the processes are kept within their control limits.
The new system is based on Tencor's powerful UV and SE technology found in the Prometrix UV-1250SE. The SE component provides sensitive, non-destructive, optical measurement of bulk samples, single-layer thin films and multi-layer thin film stacks. The system provides measurements in areas smaller than 50 microns required by the increasingly shrinking geometries driven by future device technology.
About Tencor: Tencor Instruments, founded in 1976, is a recognized leader in the design and manufacture of innovative wafer defect inspection,software-based yield management, film measurement and metrology systems used in semiconductor manufacturing and related industries. Its Film Measurement division's product line has a worldwide installed base of over 1,250 systems.
The company reported record revenues of $106 million for the quarter ended March 31, 1996. Corporate offices are located in Mountain View and Santa Clara, Calif., with sales and service offices worldwide. The company's home page can be found on the World Wide Web at tencor.com. -0- |
