Great News,
Monday June 17 8:46 AM EDT
Tencor Instruments Introduces Revolutionary 300mm Wafer Inspection System
New Laser-Based Surfscan SP1 System Leverages Unique, Uniform Light-Collection Technology to Meet I
nspection Challenges
Posed By Unpatterned 300mm Wafers and Emerging 0.25 Micron Design Rules
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 17, 1996-- Editors' Summary:
A principal issue associated with the coming era of 300mm wafers is the need for process control eq
uipment to ensure these wafers meet the tighter design
tolerances required to produce next-generation 0.25 micron and below devices.
Consequently, unpatterned wafers and semiconductor processing equipment will need to meet stringent
criteria related to contaminants, wafer surface
irregularities and micro-roughness, or haze -- a task beyond the capabilities of current inspection
systems. The solution is Tencor's new Surfscan SP1
unpatterned wafer inspection system. Its technology removes the roadblocks to 300mm wafer developme
nt, providing a combination of detection uniformity,
sensitivity and throughput not found in any other unpatterned-wafer inspection system.
Tencor Instruments (Nasdaq:TNCR) today introduced a new system that performs rapid, highly sensitiv
e inspection of unpatterned 300mm wafers, providing
capability critical to the development of emerging 0.25 micron process technologies. The Surfscan S
P1 combines a stationary illumination beam, uniform
axi-symmetric collection optics and an optional bright field channel with a rotating-wafer scheme t
o offer unparalleled detection of surface defects and
contaminants at speeds of up to 100 wafers per hour on 300mm wafers (150 wafers per hour on 200mm w
afers).
The semiconductor industry's move toward 0.25 micron and smaller devices is forcing dramatically ti
ghtened design tolerances. At the same time, productivity
requirements are driving the development of larger, 300mm wafers, on which many of these devices wi
ll be manufactured. These dual technology trends have
created demand for an inspection system that can reliably and repeatably detect anomalies as small
as 0.08 micron while still maintaining high throughput on
these large wafers.
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