KLA-Tencor to devise inspection tool for SOI
By Silicon Strategies
11/24/2003 5:35 PM EST
URL: siliconstrategies.com
SAN JOSE--KLA-Tencor Inc. and Soitec SA today (November 24, 2004) announced a joint program to improve the quality, yield, and cost of production of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers in IC applications.
The joint development partnership is expected to result in the world's first wafer inspection system for SOI wafers at the 90- and 65-nm nodes. The first of these new inspection systems--to be based on KLA-Tencor's Surfscan SP1--is expected to ship to Soitec in early 2004.
In addition to SOI, the new inspection system will be compatible with advanced substrates such as strained silicon-on-insulator (sSOI) and silicon germanium-on-insulator (SGOI).
"Advanced materials, like SOI and sSOI, are drawing increasing attention and recognition in the industry as critical enablers to achieving better device performance," said Andre Auberton-Herve, president of SOI wafer maker Soitec, in a statement. "As part of our strategy to usher these new materials into production, Soitec is working closely with chipmakers and equipment suppliers to make sure the infrastructure is in place for producing advanced substrate solutions optimized for our customers' specific applications."
Michael Kirk, vice president and general manager of the Surfscan Division at KLA-Tencor, agreed. "Due to their expertise in SOI technology, Soitec was a natural choice to partner with in developing an advanced SOI inspection solution that will help enable our customers to continue to meet their future technology roadmaps," he said in a statement. |
