CAPRES A/S, a Danish developer of next generation semiconductor metrology systems for direct nano- and micro-scale electrical characterization of materials, announced today that it has received a new order for its fully automated 300mm microRSP-A300 from a leading US based IDM.
With the development and production release of the microRSP-A300, CAPRES has addressed the challenges associated with in-line measurement on production wafers, thereby reducing reliance on data extrapolation and costly monitor wafers to validate doping levels.
The initial application of the tool will be to monitor sheet resistance of very thin films on product wafers before metal 1. This production application allows, for the first time, immediate and direct detection of process deviations leading to a range of sought-after benefits. The benefits range from shortened production control loop to reduction of work-in-process and a reduction of loss due to out-of-specification production processes.
"A number of companies, including this new US based customer, are finding that conventional Rs and optical metrology tools are not capable of measuring the sheet resistance of the very thin conductive films needed for production processes beyond the 40nm node. 2011 with ramp up of below 40nm process lines around the world will be a key year for adoption of our technology by top 10 IDM confirmed by our current tool backlog," said Bo Svarer Hansen, CEO of CAPRES A/S.
Source: http://www.capres.com/