Jan 23 2013
The Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), headquartered in Shanghai, China, have purchased multiple systems for photomask verification, repair and metrology from Carl Zeiss Semiconductor Metrology Systems (SMS) Division, a leading supplier of both photomask metrology and manufacturing equipment. SMIC will apply the tools as economic solutions for their mask services.
"This step is strategically very important for Carl Zeiss SMS as the semiconductor market in China is still on an emerging path." states Dr. Oliver Kienzle, CEO of Carl Zeiss SMS GmbH.
SMIC purchased an AIMS™ system for qualifying their photomasks for the advanced node and beyond. To repair the detected defects SMIC will use the ZEISS MeRiT® MG system, which allows high end mask repair based on the state-of-the-art e-beam mask repair platform. New to the SMIC production line will be the metrology tool PROVE®, which will be applied for high performance image placement measurements.
SMIC is one of the leading semiconductor foundries worldwide, providing integrated circuit (IC) foundry and technology services at 0.35-micron to 40-nanometer.
Source: http://smt.zeiss.com/