Park's automated AFM classifies defects on substrates and disks
Park Systems has launched the Park NX-HDM. This is a fully automated automatic defect review and sub-angstrom surface roughness atomic force microscopy (AFM) system for device substrates and disk media.
Park NX-HDM
The company says this is the first metrology tool capable of providing this level of accuracy and automation. The NX-HDM system sets a new standard for the industry in automatic defect review AFM technology by increasing throughput by up to 1000 percent and offers a 30 percent higher success rate than the prior system. It analyses and identifies defects in all wafer sizes up to 150mm.
"For researchers working with hard disk media and other flat substrates, the process of identifying nanoscale defects is time consuming with conventional tools, hindering throughput. The Automatic Defect Review (ADR) speeds up and improves the way it identifies, scans and analyses defects in substrates and media," comments Sang-il Park, CEO and Chairman.
"Beta test runs with Park NX-HDM demonstrate a 10x increase in throughput for defect review in an automated process when compared with more traditional manual methods of defect review. Moreover, we perfected the remapping and defect identification algorithm, and the success rate of the new NX-HDM is 30 percent higher than its previous generation, XE-HDM."
Park NX-HDM for HDD, LED, solar, and general semiconductor device industries, speeds up the automatic defect review for media and substrates. The survey scan, zoom-in scan, and analysis of imaged defect types are automated with a wide range of automated optical inspection (AOI) tools.
What's more, 'True Non-Contact Mode', combined with one of the industry's lowest noise floors, provides accurate and reliable measurements for the sub-angstrom surface roughness of diverse media and substrates.
The unique Park dual servo system with two symmetric, low-noise position sensors are incorporated on each axis of the XY scanner to retain a high scan orthogonality for widescan ranges and sample sizes. The secondary sensor corrects and compensates for non-linear and non-planar positional errors caused by a single sensor.
"There has never been a metrology tool capable of providing accurate and reliable measurements for the sub-Angstrom roughness of the substrate surfaces," says Ryan Yoo, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing. "By delivering the industry's lowest noise floor of less than 0.5 à…, Park NX-HDM can acquire accurate, repeatable, and reproducible sub-angstrom roughness measurements for the flattest substrates and media."
Suppliers to various industries are developing ultra-flat substrates to address the ever-increasing need for shrinking device dimensions. However, there has never been a metrology tool capable of providing accurate and reliable measurements for the sub-Angstrom roughness of this substrate surfaces.
Park NX-HDM combines the industry's lowest noise floor of less than 0.5 à… with Park's proprietary 'True Non-Contact' technology to create repeatable and reproducible sub-Angstrom roughness measurements without tip degradation. Scan size and scan speed are adjustable to match the user's needs in throughput and quality control.