New Solution From KLA-Tencor Helps Drive Down Costs for Volume Production of Silicon and Ultra-Thin SOI Wafers for 100-NM Design Rules and Below
Monday December 2, 8:30 am ET
An Industry First, NanoPro NP1(TM) Offers a Single-Tool Solution for Yield-Critical Nanotopography and Wafer Geometry Metrology
SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continuing its leadership role in helping the semiconductor industry successfully bring new technologies to market, KLA-Tencor (Nasdaq: KLAC - News) today introduced NanoPro NP1(TM) -- the industry's first single-tool solution for wafer geometry and nanotopography metrology. Designed to address 200-mm and 300-mm volume production requirements, NanoPro NP1 enables silicon wafer and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer manufacturers and chip manufacturers to drive down wafer production costs and improve yields for 100-nm and below device applications. NanoPro NP1 combines wafer shape, thickness, flatness and nanotopography metrology in a single scan, and is the only metrology system that can monitor SOI and bare wafers in line, at multiple points during the wafer production process. Leveraging these unique capabilities, the NanoPro NP1 enables wafer and chip manufacturers to meet their aggressive specifications for advanced device production. Several leading wafer manufacturers are already using NanoPro NP1.
"This is the first time we can measure yield critical topography parameters in addition to wafer geometry in different process areas with the same metrology system," said Dr. Peter Wagner, senior manager at Wacker Siltronic. "We plan to use the NanoPro NP1's unique dual-side measurement information at pre- and post-polishing process steps to improve our processes, implement process monitoring, reduce time to reaction, and improve overall yield. This information, acquired by a single system in a single scan, is a key enabler to improve product quality."
NanoPro NP1 provides the most advanced solution for bare- and SOI-wafer geometry and nanotopography metrology in silicon wafer and integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing. It can be used to monitor all types of 200-mm and 300-mm wafers, including single-side polished, double-side polished, epi and SOI wafers, as well as for rough, pre-polished surfaces. Incorporating KLA-Tencor's proprietary optical interferometry technology, NanoPro NP1 is the only production-capable metrology system that provides consistently accurate measurements throughout the wafer fabrication process-from grinding and etching to rough and final polish. As a result, it provides wafer manufacturers with more comprehensive wafer characterization data for accelerating process improvement and development, as well as reducing production time.
As device geometries shrink, semiconductor yields become increasingly dependent upon the flatness and nanotopography of wafer substrates. Even the slightest variation in topography on the wafer's surface can impact lithography and front-end chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) processes, impacting device performance and yields. The growing adoption of SOI wafers for high-speed, low-power applications is also driving the need for advanced metrology in SOI wafer manufacturing, since any variation in topography can ultimately affect device yield. This makes it imperative to closely monitor the wafers at several critical steps during the process. Current-generation flatness metrology tools lack the precision and comprehensive measurement capabilities to detect these minute variations. In addition, their measurement precision drops off to within a few millimeters of the wafer's edge. On a 300-mm wafer, this can mean as much as 5 percent of the wafer's surface is immediately at risk of yield loss.
"NanoPro NP1 offers us a single-tool solution to cover all our flatness and nanotopography inspection requirements," said Christophe Maleville, process engineering manager at Soitec. "We manufacture 300-mm ultra-thin SOI wafers for 65-nm node applications, focusing on site flatness and nanotopography properties compatible with advanced lithography steps. Besides standard applications for incoming and final inspection, NanoPro NP1 supports faster yield learning in pre-production ramping. Nanotopography and wafer- edge geometry parameters are critical for our process capabilities and final product quality. With NanoPro NP1, we are able to fully characterize those parameters utilizing its unique capabilities like dual-side topography measurements with high sampling resolution at the wafer edges."
In addition to inspecting different surface conditions, NanoPro NP1 provides unique front-side and backside topography analysis and the highest spatial sampling resolution needed to reduce wafer-edge exclusions. This maximizes the number of potential die that can be produced from each wafer. NanoPro NP1 can also be used by chip manufacturers as an incoming quality control mechanism in the IC fab, as well as an in-line flatness metrology tool for lithography and front-end CMP applications, such as shallow trench isolation.
"Achieving high yields is key to making new technologies viable and production worthy," stated Rick Wallace, executive vice president of KLA- Tencor's Wafer Inspection Group. "By providing wafer and IC manufacturers with new and much-needed insight into the entire wafer fabrication process, as well as its impact on IC yields, NanoPro NP1 will play a critical role in enabling our customers to drive their leading-edge technologies to market."
KLA-Tencor will showcase NanoPro NP1 at the SEMICON Japan 2002 exhibition, December 4-6, at booth A-905 in the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.
About KLA-Tencor: KLA-Tencor is the world leader in yield management and process control solutions for semiconductor manufacturing and related industries. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with operations around the world, KLA-Tencor ranked #6 on S&P's 2002 index of the top 500 companies in the U.S. KLA-Tencor is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol KLAC. Additional information about the company is available on the Internet at kla-tencor.com
NOTE: NanoPro NP1 is a trademark of KLA-Tencor.
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Source: KLA-Tencor |
