Feb 20 2008
Nanometrics Incorporated, a leading supplier of advanced metrology equipment to the semiconductor industry, today announced the 1,000th shipment of its Integrated Metrology® (IM) system, highlighting the company’s leadership position in the IM market for semiconductor manufacturing. The milestone system was a Nanometrics 9010 SCRIBE unit integrated into an advanced plasma etch system used to control critical gate etch applications in advanced logic devices.
Nanometrics introduced its first IM system in 1998, an ultra-compact, real-time metrology system used in chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) thickness control applications. “Due to rapid customer acceptance and advancing process control requirements, Nanometrics’ integrated metrology products evolved into a leading-edge tool set specializing in CMP, CVD, etch, and photolithography process control applications,” said Steve Bradley, Nanometrics’ director of Integrated Metrology Business. “Our customers see substantial improvements in process control capability and end of line product yield as a benefit of integrated metrology adoption. Reaching this milestone in such a short time reflects the industry’s ongoing acceptance of integrated metrology and Nanometrics’ commitment to innovative process control solutions.”
Nanometrics 9000 Series IM systems provide 300 mm thin film and optical critical dimension (OCD) metrology solutions for all critical semiconductor processing applications. The 9000 Series incorporate state-of-the-art motion-control, optics, and modeling software, enabling comprehensive control over critical processes, including measurement of complex film stacks as well as 2D and 3D modeling of advanced structures.