Nanometrics
Incorporated, a leading supplier of advanced metrology
equipment to the semiconductor industry, today announced the 1,000th
shipment of its Integrated Metrology® (IM) system, highlighting
the company’s leadership position in the IM market for
semiconductor manufacturing. The milestone system was a Nanometrics
9010 SCRIBE unit integrated into an advanced plasma etch system used to
control critical gate etch applications in advanced logic devices.
Nanometrics introduced its first IM system in 1998, an
ultra-compact, real-time metrology system used in chemical mechanical
polishing (CMP) thickness control applications. “Due to rapid
customer acceptance and advancing process control requirements,
Nanometrics’ integrated metrology products evolved into a
leading-edge tool set specializing in CMP, CVD, etch, and
photolithography process control applications,” said Steve
Bradley, Nanometrics’ director of Integrated Metrology
Business. “Our customers see substantial improvements in
process control capability and end of line product yield as a benefit
of integrated metrology adoption. Reaching this milestone in such a
short time reflects the industry’s ongoing acceptance of
integrated metrology and Nanometrics’ commitment to
innovative process control solutions.”
Nanometrics 9000 Series IM systems provide 300 mm thin film
and optical critical dimension (OCD) metrology solutions for all
critical semiconductor processing applications. The 9000 Series
incorporate state-of-the-art motion-control, optics, and modeling
software, enabling comprehensive control over critical processes,
including measurement of complex film stacks as well as 2D and 3D
modeling of advanced structures.