WILSONVILLE, OR, Apr 06, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — The R&D group at CyberOptics Semiconductor has signed off on a line of wireless 450 mm wafer processing metrology sensors developed in conjunction with industry standards to help chipmakers and tool manufacturers qualify next-generation production processes.
CyberOptics’ 450 mm carbon fiber WaferSense(R) sensors are designed to obtain precise metrology data to optimize new processing equipment for shrinking 32 nm and 22 nm process tolerances, according to Craig C. Ramsey, Ph.D., CyberOptics Semiconductor’s general manager.
Ramsey said CyberOptics engineers have communicated with representatives of the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI) in developing the 450 mm devices for inclusion in ISMI’s 450 mm Interoperability Test Bed — where industry researchers have been studying 450 mm wafers and equipment. ISMI’s 450 mm roadmap calls for three chipmakers to build 450 mm pilot lines by 2012.
“The 450 roadmap is starting to heat up, and 32 nm tolerances will require equally tight metrology controls for viable processing,” Ramsey said.
CyberOptics’ 450 mm sensors allow engineers to level processing equipment, reduce equipment vibration and set three axis wafer-transfer coordinates. Each wafer-like device follows the processing life of a wafer and reports real-time metrology data via a GUI.
