Soitec Adopts Qcept Technologies’ NVD Inspection Solution for Silicon-on-Insulator Wafer Production Applications
a new breed of wafer inspection systems for the semiconductor manufacturing
industry, announced that Soitec, the leading supplier of silicon-on-insulator
(SOI) and other engineered substrates, has adopted its ChemetriQ(R) 3000
non-visual defect (NVD) inspection system after several months of
collaborative effort. The ChemetriQ system is installed at Soitec’s Bernin II
300-mm SOI production fab, where it is currently being used for incoming
quality control of bare silicon wafers and process monitoring of SOI wafers.
To win the order, Qcept’s ChemetriQ solution had to meet Soitec’s strict
return-on-investment and production-worthiness criteria. Following the
successful tool evaluation and subsequent order, both parties also agreed to
participate in an ongoing SOI application development effort focused on
extending the use of Qcept’s technology in existing inspection applications,
as well as developing new applications, for improving process control, quality
and final yield of Soitec’s SOI wafers.
“Soitec is committed to providing the highest-quality engineered
substrates that the semiconductor industry needs to enable mobile,
high-performance and advanced microelectronic applications,” stated
Maleville
ChemetriQ inspection technology offers unique insight into the condition of
incoming bare wafers, as well as our own manufacturing process, by enabling us
to find potential yield issues that we otherwise couldn’t detect. This
solution provides an added level of quality assurance for our end products.”
“NVDs are an increasing yield concern for wafer and IC manufacturers alike
as tighter process tolerances are required and new materials are introduced,”
stated
Soitec, the world’s leading supplier of SOI wafers, has chosen to use our
ChemetriQ system to monitor their advanced manufacturing process. This
validation, along with our success at major IC manufacturers, is testament to
the growing awareness of the need for NVD inspection as part of a total yield
management strategy for both wafer and IC fabrication.”
Qcept’s ChemetriQ platform provides rapid, full-wafer, inline detection of
NVDs, such as organic and inorganic residue, metallic contaminants,
process-induced charging, watermarks and other non-visual residue defects that
are undetectable by optical inspection systems. ChemetriQ accomplishes this
by employing an innovative, non-destructive technology that detects work
function variations on the surface of semiconductor wafers. The ChemetriQ
platform is sensitive to 5E9 atoms/cm2 (one atom out of 200,000 per square
centimeter), which exceeds the requirements outlined in the International
Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) for metallic contamination
detection down to the 22-nm node.
About the Soitec Group:
The Soitec Group is the world’s leading innovator and provider of the
engineered substrate solutions that serve as the foundation for today’s most
advanced microelectronic products. The group leverages its proprietary Smart
Cut(TM) technology to engineer new substrate solutions, such as silicon-on-
insulator (SOI) wafers, which became the first high-volume application for
this proprietary technology. Since then, SOI has emerged as the material
platform of the future, enabling the production of higher performing, faster
chips that consume less power.
Today, Soitec produces more than 80 percent of the world’s SOI wafers.
Headquartered in Bernin,
offices throughout
site in the process of customers’ qualification in
Two other divisions, Picogiga International (
Technologies (Bernin), complete the Soitec Group. Picogiga focuses on
delivering advanced substrates solutions, including III-Vs epiwafers and
gallium nitride (GaN)-based wafers, to the compound material world for the
manufacture of high-frequency electronics and other optoelectronic devices.
Tracit, on the other hand, focuses on thin-film layer transfer technologies
used to manufacture advanced substrates for power ICs and microsystems, as
well as generic circuit transfer technology for applications such as image
sensors and 3D-integration. Shares of the Soitec Group are listed on Euronext
Paris.
About Qcept Technologies Inc.:
Qcept delivers wafer inspection solutions for non-visual defect (NVD)
detection in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Qcept’s ChemetriQ(R)
platform is being adopted in critical processes for inline, non-contact,
full-wafer detection of such NVDs as sub-monolayer organic and metallic
residues, process-induced charging, and other undesired surface non-
uniformities that cannot be detected by conventional optical inspection
equipment. More information can be found at http://www.qceptech.com.
ChemetriQ is a registered trademark of Qcept Technologies Inc. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE Qcept Technologies Inc.