Rudolph's management software makes headway in packaging
The company says its new software demonstrates the growing interest among back-end manufacturers in adopting proven yield enhancement strategies long used in front-end processes
Rudolph Technologies has announced the sale of its Discover Yield Management Software to a major outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) house for use in improving yields of its advanced packaging operations.
Rudolph is a provider of process characterisation equipment and software for the semiconductor, FPD, LED and solar industries.
In response to the specific needs of advanced packaging processes, its Discover software has been enhanced to combine inspection data from inspection tools as well as metrology data from metrology tools and metrology sensors integrated into inspection tools.
"As advanced packaging processes in the back-end become more complex and the structures they create become smaller, manufacturers are finding they need to use all the data available from their processes to maximise yields," says Rajiv Roy, vice president of business development and director of back-end marketing at Rudolph.
"This version of Discover was specifically designed to meet the needs of back-end processes by combining defect data from our NSX Inspection Tool with bump height measurements from our Wafer Scanner (WS) Inspection and Metrology System. With Discover, back-end manufacturers now have the same solutions available to improve their process yields that have proven to be invaluable in the front-end," Roy continues.
Discover yield management software, offered in both tool-centric and fab-wide versions, provides value-added capability to both the WS and NSX systems by combining 3D and 2D data from both tools.
The software links to the process equipment of choice, allows for trend analysis of both inspection and metrology data to pin-point process issues, precisely correlates electrical and other test results to inspection data and links into existing databases.
With production use in memory, logic, microprocessor, ASIC, foundry and the LED markets, Discover software is a popular data management solution as it flexibly integrates into a customers' yield management strategy.
The NSX family of inspection tools is designed for automated macro defect inspection for advanced packaging. Built on that success, the NSX 320 System offers specific inspection solutions for processes using through silicon vias (TSVs) to connect multiple die in a single package, and continuing to serve critical inspection needs for edge trimming metrology, wafer alignment during bonding processes and sawn wafers on film frames. With high acceleration staging, high-speed multi-processor computing and highly flexible software capabilities, the NSX 320 delivers high speed and sensitivity.
Using Rudolph's proprietary Laser Triangulation technology, the Wafer Scanner Inspection Series provides 3D/2D bump and RDL metrology, and bump and RDL defect and macro defect inspection throughout back-end processes.
The newly added optional Ultra High Resolution Sensor enables measurement of micro bumps and RDL heights as low as 1µm. The WS system quickly and reliably locates bump and wafer defects, reducing process costs and improving yield.
