Online information source for semiconductor professionals

Product Briefing Outline: Veeco Instruments has its new ‘Dimension Icon’ AFM, which the company claims delivers the highest resolution, best ease-of-use, and fastest time-to-results of any large-sample AFM on the market today. The Dimension Icon is said to brings new levels of performance, ease and productivity to researchers using AFM that meets the needs of both the research lab and industrial applications. The tool is designed to perform analysis ranging from quantitative automated characterization to atomic scale imaging across material science, semiconductor, data storage, and energy research. Read more >>

Product Briefing Outline: Soitec has introduced a new generation of advanced substrates that support all the applications and architectures on the industry’s sub-45 nm roadmap. New solutions such as ultra-thin top silicon and ultra-thin Buried OXide (BOX) give device architects and designers complete flexibility in their choice of substrates for partially depleted (PD) and fully-depleted (FD) devices, including multi-gate transistor architectures (FinFET, Trigate). Read more >>

Product Briefing Outline: ASML has improved its TWINSCANTM lithography platform that offers significant improvements in overlay and productivity, enabling the semiconductor industry to continue its roadmap for more advanced and affordable chips. The TWINSCAN NXT platform is suited for emerging double patterning techniques (DPT) which manufacturers need to shrink the smallest chip features by up to 42 percent. Read more >>

Product Briefing Outline: Brooks Automation has introduced the vacuum process tool automation platform ‘Marathon 2 Nano,’ which is designed to enable smaller footprints for 300mm semiconductor processing equipment. Brooks has included many new features developed from interrelated components that are designed to offer improved process module architecture. Brooks Automation’s Marathon 2 Nano vacuum transfer platform with MagnaTran 9 vacuum robotics and Fusion controls enables a combination of layout flexibility, process module density and overall productivity improvement. Read more >>

Product Briefing Outline: Pfeiffer Vacuum has broadened its line of ‘HiPace’ turbopumps to include four new sizes. They are characterized by their high pumping speeds for both light (H₂, He) and heavy gases (Ar, CF₄), achieving high throughputs for heavy gases. Read more >>

Product Briefing Outline: Tiger Optics has introduced the ‘Tiger-i’ cleanroom analyzer for gas phase airborne molecular contaminants (AMCs). The Tiger-i line employs Tiger Optics’ patented Continuous Wave Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CW-CRDS) technology that is claimed to provide accurate and immediate, calibration-free analysis. Read more >>

Product Briefing Outline: Reticle Labs has announced the release of MaskShop, a first in a series of design-for-manufacturing software tools currently under development. MaskShop is custom image processing software for quantifying post and pre-repaired defect patterns found on reticles (masks), eliminating guess work while simultaneously streamlining and expediting the repair process. MaskShop is compatible with the most commonly used imaging systems found in a semiconductor mask fabrication facility. Read more >>

Product Briefing Outline: Bosch Rexroth has developed a semiconductor wafer lift subassembly ready to install as a single component, helping tool builders lower costs, streamline their supply chain, and reduce engineering expenses. The lift subassembly has a stroke of 2.25 inches and a duty cycle time of one cycle per second. It carries a load of 12 pounds and is also exposed to a vacuum load of 108 pounds. Read more >>

One of the equipment suppliers that consistently brings out new products is KLA-Tencor. However, the metrology supplier rarely figures in the most popular rankings in any given year. That has changed in 2008 with its TeraFab tool. Although only released recently, the fifth most popular product was from TEL and Novellus for copper interconnects. Read more >>

Product Briefing Outline: Applied Materials has started a major effort to enable the widespread adoption of through-silicon vias (TSVs), to boost chip performance and functionality in a smaller area. Its ‘Applied Centura Silvia Etch’ system, targets the need for high-performance, low-cost, TSV applications. The Silvia system’s profile control enables the smooth, vertical via sidewalls that are critical for the subsequent deposition of high-quality liner and fill films. The highly flexible Silvia system can etch both silicon and oxide in the same chamber for established and emerging TSV integration schemes. Read more >>