Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: RTEC), a worldwide leader in process characterization solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, announced today the availability of its new S3000S™ Metrology System for in-line process control of advanced diffusion and fab-wide thin film applications. The innovative optical design of the S3000S System enables simultaneous measurement with multi-wavelength, multi-angle Focus Beam Ellipsometry (FBE) and deep ultraviolet reflectometry (DUVR)-reducing measurement time and significantly increasing throughput over previous generations. Rudolph is accepting orders now with first shipments planned for the end of this quarter.
“Our customers continue to look for ways to lower costs and improve fab productivity. The S3000S System helps them achieve this by combining higher throughput with the industry-leading stability needed for thinner films and tighter process tolerances at the 45nm and 32nm nodes,” said Jack Kurdock, Rudolph’s vice president and general manager of the Metrology Business Unit. “The ability to measure simultaneously with focused beam ellipsometry and deep UV reflectometry, introduced with the S3000S, allows IC manufacturers to take advantage of a pool of multi-wavelength, multi-angle ellipsometer and multi-wavelength reflectance data for accurate, repeatable characterization of complex films and precise control of advanced processes without sacrificing throughput.”
Rudolph’s patented FBE technology uses high-intensity, long-life laser light sources to provide superior stability. A small beam size enables measurements in small test sites. Laser light sources have the inherent wavelength accuracy needed to meet increasingly tighter tool-to-tool matching requirements simply and robustly. The optional MAControl™ module provides one-step, uniform, non-destructive removal of the molecular airborne contamination layer on thin films to allow more accurate measurement of the true thin film thickness. The new S3000S System is built on the reliable, field-proven Vanguard-II automation platform that is shared by all Rudolph metrology products.