FSI International, a provider of surface conditioning devices for the production of microelectronics, has declared that a major semiconductor manufacturer has placed a follow-on order for the company’s ORION single wafer cleaning system for back-end-of-line applications.
In addition, another major device manufacturer has placed a multi-unit follow-on order for FSI International’s ANTARES cryokinetic cleaning system. The company is expected to deliver the systems in the fiscal year 2012.
Integrated circuit producers have considered that the ORION single wafer cleaning system’s novel closed chamber offers highly effective stripping of ash and etch byproducts without modifying the properties of dielectric and metal films or causing galvanic corrosion. The design of the process chamber with an inbuilt spray bar decreases chemical consumption, reduces process time, enhances uniformity and improves particle stripping.
The ANTARES, a single-wafer, completely automated cryokinetic cleaning system with capabilities to strip nano-scale particles is utilized for processing wafers having sizes of 200 and 300 mm. Cryokinetic processing technology is a zero-chemical, all-dry process that strips particles using the force of high-velocity cryogenic Ar/N2 aerosol, and decreases imperfections even on low-k porous films and copper without damaging the surface of the wafer. The high-efficiency, dry cleaning capability of the system can be utilized for numerous particle stripping applications in the back-end-of-line and front-end-of-line. The ANTARES cryokinetic cleaning system has been utilized by most of the major logic device producers across the world, thanks to its yield enhancement and flaw reduction advantages.