Nanometrics Incorporated, a
leading supplier of advanced metrology equipment to the semiconductor
industry, today announced that AIXTRON AG, a leading provider of
deposition tools used in the worldwide production of advanced
components for electronic and opto-electronic applications, has
purchased the Nanometrics VerteX photoluminescence (PL) mapping system
to determine material composition, measure layer thickness and improve
the wafer uniformity performance of its equipment.
AIXTRON manufactures metal organic chemical vapor deposition
(MOCVD) equipment, a key processing tool used to produce
high-brightness light-emitting diodes (HBLEDs). The Nanometrics VerteX
is expected to be installed during the fourth quarter of 2007 at
AIXTRON’s Aachen, Germany demonstration facility.
"The VerteX system will be a tremendous asset to our
demonstration facility," said Professor Dr. Michael Heuken, Vice
President Corporate Research and Development at AIXTRON. "Not only will
we be able to monitor the performance and accuracy of our equipment,
but our customers will get quantifiable data from our tool as well. Our
installation of the VerteX system will give our facility the most
advanced production PL mapping capability on the market today, which is
required to demonstrate the advantages of our recently-introduced
reactors with larger production capacity."
AIXTRON will replace its current PL mapping tool,
Nanometrics’ RPM2000, with the VerteX in order to obtain
greater execution for its deposition systems and processes.
“This purchase of our VerteX system marks another
milestone in our long-term relationship with AIXTRON,” said
Tom Ryan, Nanometrics’ Business Unit Manager, Materials
Characterization. “Our collaboration with a market leader
such as AIXTRON will give us greater insight into current and future
technology, which will help in our commitment to the advancement of
Nanometrics’ PL mapping technology.”