Apr 21 2009
Metryx, Limited, today announced that it has shipped its second Mentor OC23 mass metrology system to a key U.S.-based GaAs manufacturer. The company will implement the system in volume bulk acoustic wave (BAW) device production, to measure both deposition and etch processes on product wafers.
The order is a result of the existing system’s demonstrated results in the company’s manufacturing line. The mass metrology system has been an enabling technology for BAW production, providing insight into process conditions that is unavailable using other metrology techniques. Metryx’s non-destructive in-line metrology can be used to monitor product wafers in volume production environments for dielectric and conducting materials in etch, deposition and CMP process applications.
“In addition to being highly effective, mass metrology delivers considerable time and cost benefits. That is the basis for initial purchase orders," stated Dr. Adrian Kiermasz, President and CEO of Metryx. “Once the machine is in the production line, manufacturers can truly evaluate the effectiveness of the technology. To date, 95 percent of our customers have placed follow-on orders. We see that as an indication of mass metrology’s increasing value in the volume production environment."
Capable of measuring in the microgram range (approximately one Angstrom of material thickness), the in-line Mentor OC23 tool monitors the mass change of any wafer following a process step, to quickly determine whether device manufacture process steps are operating consistently and in the expected manner. The mass change response for the process step is managed like other SPC parameters in the process flow.