Rudolph Technologies,
Inc. (NASDAQ: RTEC), a worldwide leader in process characterization solutions
for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, announced today that it has received
an order for multiple back-end inspection tools from Advanced Semiconductor
Engineering, Inc. (ASE, TAIEX: 2311) (NYSE: ASX), the world's largest semiconductor
packaging and test company. This purchase for automated NSX® Inspection
Systems with Discover® yield management software reflects a trend to incorporate
real-time process control into advanced back-end fabrication processes.
“Rudolph’s hardware and process control software solutions have
consistently demonstrated industry-leading productivity and performance in outgoing
quality assurance (OQA) operations,” said Ardy Johnson, Rudolph’s
vice president of marketing. “More advanced capabilities are now required,
such as the replacement of wire bonds with bump-based connections. Rudolph’s
unique combination of 2D and 3D inspection hardware and analytical software
is a compelling solution for ASE’s in-line process control requirements.”
Rudolph’s General Manager in Taiwan, Jimmy Lin, adds, “As back-end
processes continue to grow more complex, manufacturers are increasingly replacing
existing outgoing quality control procedures with advanced, in-line process
control methodologies, which are already well established in front-end fabs.
Rudolph is unique in offering a hardware and software ‘total solution’
for inspection and data analysis that provides the speed and accuracy required
to control high-volume production processes. We see significant potential for
growth in the back-end inspection market, a result of being inserted at multiple
in-line applications, as advanced packaging technologies are more widely adopted.”
“The value of Rudolph’s tool set was enhanced by ASE’s decision
earlier this year to install our Discover yield management software,”
said Johnson “This defect analysis/data management system easily interfaces
with existing fab databases, and delivers high uptime when linked to process
tools.”
The order, referenced in Rudolph’s Sept. 16, 2009 release on back-end
market recovery, began shipping in 3Q 2009.
Rudolph offers a complete line of inspection and metrology systems for semiconductor
manufacturing applications. The NSX® 115 automated inspection tool is optimized
specifically for the back-end manufacturing environment, and offers the highest
throughput and greatest flexibility in the detection and analysis of macro defects
created during wafer manufacturing, probing, bumping, dicing, or by general
handling. The WaferScanner™ 3840 uses proprietary laser triangulation
technology to provide fast and accurate 3D measurements of bump height and coplanarity.
The open architecture and scalable system provided in Discover software can
encompass all inspection tools on the fab floor. It is designed to efficiently
analyze the tremendous volume of data generated by high-speed inspection tools
to identify significant events, such as process excursions, and provide process
engineers with the information required to optimize the manufacturing processes.