Comparing the QUADRA with Lightning Mode to a pre-existing automated AFM system.
Nearfield Instruments has announced a new Lightning Mode feature for its QUADRA platform, an in-line atomic force microscopy (AFM) metrology system to be used for advanced semiconductor devices. The new mode is set to boost productivity with a more than 160-fold increase in image acquisition compared to pre-existing automated AFM systems.
The high throughput and superior accuracy of the QUADRA system will allow users to non-destructively determine lot-to-lot, wafer-to-wafer and intra-wafer process variations in full 3D.
“QUADRA is transforming semiconductor production metrology, especially now with our new Lightning Mode – the only metrology system capable of providing highly accurate, in-line, non-destructive 3D measurements with extremely high throughput on advanced technology nodes,” said Hamed Sadeghian, CEO of Nearfield Instruments.
“It is validated and qualified for all device and package types in the fab. QUADRA, especially with its new Lightning Mode that provides the fastest imaging speed of any in-line AFM metrology system in the world, supporting massive metrology needs.”
Key features of the QUADRA system:
- Multi-miniaturised AFM head architecture, allowing for on-device, non-destructive three-dimensional (3D) metrology.
- Now fully qualified and deployed for high-volume manufacturing (HVM) at industry fabs.
- Speeds up time-to-yield and HVM yield optimisation and control in memory (VNAND, DRAM, HBM) and logic processes, like high-aspect-ratio structures, (high-NA) EUV resist structures and hybrid bonding applications.
“Hybrid bonding is a critical technology to support the future demands for computational power, which is driving more chip stacking and increased data transmission; more efficient energy consumption in multi-chip systems is a key. Hybrid bonding plays a crucial role in artificial intelligence (AI) chip systems, both in 3D packaging and new-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) manufacturing” continued Sadeghian. “However, it comes with additional complexity to 3D packaging and chiplets, increasing the importance of angstrom-level, non-destructive metrology with the capability of not only die-to-die but also pad-to-pad metrology, which has historically demonstrated limited throughput over the more conventional techniques like AFM.”