Rudolph wins order from austriamicrosystems
Rudolph Technologies, Inc. has announced the sale of both front- and back-end inspection systems to austriamicrosystems austriamicrosystems has purchased one AXi Series tool, a cleanroom compatible, high-resolution macro defect inspection system for front-end processes, and one NSX Series tool, which is designed to handle macro defect inspection of wafers and thin wafers on film frames in back-end processes.
Supplier to the European automotive industry, austriamicrosystems will use the new Rudolph inspection tools for internal process control and yield enhancement, as well as to meet the zero defect requirements of its automotive customers for outgoing inspection.The order was placed after a direct competitive evaluation and consolidates Rudolph's dominant position within the automotive semiconductor inspection market. Primary criteria in the evaluation were demonstrated process capability, including the ability to share data between front- and back-end applications, and a proven record of local service and support.
"Rudolph could demonstrate and prove the capability to address the full range of inspection requirements throughout our manufacturing process," said Johan Oosterlee, vice president-purchasing at austriamicrosystems. "The AXi System has the resolution and Class 1 cleanroom compatibility we need for our front-end processes. These are key contributing factors in reducing our production costs through yield improvement. Likewise, the NSX System has the flexibility we need in the final manufacturing process where we may need to inspect full wafers, film frames, ultra-thin wafers and other specialized applications. The ability to share data between systems can enhance our ability to look for relationships between front-end and back-end defectivity mechanisms."
"austriamicrosystems conducted a very thorough evaluation of the inspection solutions available on the market, and we are very pleased to receive this order from them," said Nathan Little, executive vice president and general manager of Rudolph's Inspection Business Unit. "The automotive industry is one of the leading industrial sectors requiring outgoing quality control with 100 percent inspection requirements. We currently supply inspection capability to every major automotive chip provider, and we are gratified to see our technology emerging as the de facto industry standard."
