Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: RTEC), a worldwide leader in process characterization solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, today announced the receipt of multiple orders for its Wafer Scanner (WS) 3840™ and NSX® Series inspection tools from new and repeat customers in China and Taiwan.
According to Rajiv Roy, Rudolph’s vice president of business development and director of back-end marketing, “We’re experiencing an early recovery cycle in back-end inspection. Following the integration of the Wafer Scanner Series into our product line, an aggressive R&D effort was implemented to have the new WS3840 ready for customers who were facing unique challenges in processing advanced bump wafers. The systems started shipping late last year, and even through the downturn, customers remained engaged by providing performance data and valuable process feedback.”
The WS3840 integrates Rudolph’s exclusive laser triangulation technology for 3D bump metrology and sensitive 2D image-based macro defect inspection on the same wafer handler platform that is used by all of the company’s advanced inspection and metrology tools. The WS3840 is designed to meet manufacturers’ growing need to manage back-end processes for maximum yield and profitability at a time when technical demands and costs are escalating rapidly.
“Several factors helped us win these orders, including cost of ownership, performance and reputation,” Roy continued. “The new Wafer Scanner 3840 won a competitive comparison at a China fab based on accuracy and repeatability. In Taiwan, a packaging and test customer with several Rudolph Systems installed, has chosen the WS3840 to meet increasing demand for bump metrology and defect inspection.”
Rudolph’s NSX Series is the key player in the company’s back-end inspection solution portfolio and is expected to help drive the recovery among Outsourced Assembly and Test (OSAT) providers. The NSX Series, with over 600 systems currently installed, provides fast, repeatable, advanced macro inspection to detect defects created during wafer manufacturing, probing, bumping, and dicing or through general handling. Macro defects (0.5 micron and larger) can have a major impact on the quality of a microelectronic device and the yield of the manufacturing process.