"Investment in process diagnostic equipment by chip makers is currently running at the rate of around $4 billion," stated John West, Principal Analyst at VLSI Research, Europe. "Any technology which is able to provide a simple, straightforward solution is going to be a welcome addition to a field that is characterized by tools that are often expensive and difficult to use." 

The Mentor SF3 tool monitors the mass of any wafer following a process step to quickly determine whether device manufacture process steps are operating consistently using passive data collection (PDC) and normal distribution analysis. The tool allows process changes to be reliably and accurately determined after deposition, wet or dry etch, or CMP processing. The tools being ordered will be deployed in volume production environments to provide process control for a variety of applications, according to the company.

"More production orders from new customers is simply further validation for our technology," stated Dr Adrian Kiermasz, President and CEO of Metryx. "Our non-intrusive in-line measuring tools deliver exceptional early warning process control and the accompanying peace of mind that the process is working as it should. There is a great deal of interest in this technology, which is increasingly bringing additional business from both new and existing customers."

The Mentor SF3 tool is claimed to have throughputs of 60 wafers per hour.