| | | Applied Materials launches new wafer inspection system, lifting semi equipment stocks
Mar. 16, 2021 11:23 AM ET Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) By: Brandy Betz, SA News Editor 1 Comment
- Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) introduces the Enlight optical wafer inspection system, which the company says can result in a 3x reduction in the cost of capturing critical defects compared to competing approaches.
- The lower cost of capturing defects allows chipmakers to insert more inspection points in the process flow, which can help immediately identify defects and predict potential defects.
- Applied Materials has also developed ExtractAI Technology, which uses artificial intelligence to quickly and accurately distinguish "yield-killing defects" from nuisance signals or "noise" from high-end optical scanners.
- “Being able to quickly and accurately distinguish yield-killing defects from noise is something fab engineers have struggled with for more than 30 years,” says Dan Hutcheson, chairman and CEO of VLSIresearch. “Applied Materials’ Enlight system with ExtractAI technology is a breakthrough approach that solves this challenge and, because the AI gets smarter the more the system is used, it helps chipmakers increase their revenue per wafer over time.”
- Applied Materials shares are up 5.3%. Semi equipment peer Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) is up 3.8%, and KLA (NASDAQ: KLAC) is up 1.7%.
- Press release.
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