AMAT Unveils New Pattern Monitoring For Sub-20nm Era
Applied Materials (AMAT) has unveiled its Applied
UVision 5 wafer inspection system for detecting defects in the critical
patterning layers of logic devices at the sub-20nm node.
The system's deep ultra-violet (DUV) laser and
simultaneous brightfield and greyfield light collection capabilities are
claimed to deliver up to double the light intensity to the wafer over previous
tools. This enables the UVision 5 system to capture up to twice the number of
killer defects.
AMAT says this sensitivity allows semiconductor manufacturers to achieve more stable and robust control over the fabrication of their smallest circuit features.
"With each advance in technology node, minute imperfections that could previously be ignored suddenly become potential 'killer' defects. Innovations in the UVision 5 system are enabling chipmakers to find and characterize these ultra-small defects to boost yield and reduce cycle time," said Itai Rosenfeld, corporate vice president and general manager of Applied's Process Diagnostics and Control business unit.
"We are excited about the momentum the UVision5 tool has achieved with customers. We've had repeat orders for the system and it is already tool of record at multiple leading logic and foundry manufacturers for 2Xnm device production," added Rosenfeld.
The UVision 5 system's optical system provides up to twice the light density to the wafer and, using its proprietary collection optic path, accumulates up to 30% more scattered light than its predecessor. This feature, combined with new, proprietary image processing algorithms that reduce wafer-induced noise by up to 50%, boost the system's detection capabilities for critical monitoring applications, such as ArF immersion lithography, double and quad patterning and EUVL layers.
For foundry customers, the UVision 5 system speeds up
the task of rapidly ramping production of thousands of new chip designs each
year. Seamless, "hands-free" integration with Applied's industry-standard
SEMVision G5 defect review system creates a fully-integrated defect inspection
and review solution, offering chipmakers the fastest, most accurate path from
data to information.
The system can also utilise design information for building layout data which can improve defect capture rate and save up to 15 hours of operator time per inspection recipe.
