Rudolph, SCP Global grab first-to-market honors with new product launches

Two semiconductor equipment suppliers staked out first-to-market bragging rights with springtime launches of new products. Rudolph Technologies came out with its WaferView Team concept, which combines hardware and software for what the company says is the first 100% real-time macrodefect inspection solution for every wafer at each critical lithography or CMP step. SCP Global released the Emersion tool, touted as the first single-wafer immersion cleaning system, targeted specifically for sub-90-nm critical cleans and etches.

HONORS: The WaferView 320 system is part of Rudolph's macrodefect inspection suite for critical litho and CMP steps. PHOTO COURTESY OF RUDOLPH TECHNOLOGIES

Rudolph's product has three constituent parts: the I-MOD inspection modules, which are designed to be integrated with track or polishing tools; the WaferView 320 stand-alone inspection and review systems; and the YieldView server, which coordinates the product suite. Together, the company says the "team" can greatly improve overall yields by capturing more killer defects and can achieve this performance at a lower cost of ownership than competing macrodefect inspection systems from the likes of KLA-Tencor, Nikon, and August Technology.

Michael Darwin, director of technology development, believes the system will "free process engineers from macrodefect-caused yield loss." He notes how the team approach can minimize the number of misprocessed wafers with "virtually instantaneous defect detection;" hasten rework decisions and correct process problems with fast, efficient review and root-cause analysis; and speed up process development and ramp with automatic inspection of every wafer.

"One customer says he saw the [potential] return on investment for the WaferView suite just from its ability to expedite process development and ramp," he noted. Darwin also emphasized the team's "ability to maximize rework opportunities and save more wafers and die, through the use of 100% inspection," something of increasing importance at advanced technology nodes. A major high-volume U.S. fab has already implemented the prototype system, connecting multiple integrated units and stand-alone tools with YieldView, according to Rudolph.

During presentations at SCP Global's Boise, ID, headquarters in late April, Eric Hansen, the company's vice president and chief technology officer, said the company spent more than three years developing the Emersion surface-treatment system, He added that a beta version has been installed at a major Asian customer since late 2003, though it and other fab companies have been sending wafers to SCP's applications and demonstration lab for at least a year. Hansen's stated initial goal for the tool: "get the best FEOL precleaning and cleaning performance."

AND MORE HONORS: The vertically oriented chamber is the heart of SCP Global's Emersion single-wafer tool. PHOTO COURTESY OF SCP GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES

"This technology was developed from the chamber out," explained SCP's Kevin McLaughlin. A single, vertically oriented chamber handles the process, rinse, and dry functions, and each tool incorporates at least two independent chambers. Other key features of the chamber include multiple megasonic transducers that can be used individually or in combination, in any process, as well as multimode drying capabilities.

Product technologist McLaughlin listed what the OEM sees as the Emersion's advantages: it can reduce cycle time, improve process flexibility, and facilitate a faster time to first silicon; improve such process control metrics as film loss, CD control, and etch uniformity; and reduce the cost of ownership by employing dilute chemistries, shortening process times, and providing a small footprint. Hansen said the throughput for a two-chamber version of the tool is in the 50–60 wafers/hr range, while a four-chamber tool can run 100–120 wafers/hr.

"The demo lab has had a continuous stream of customer wafers," said John Rosato, a senior process engineer with SCP. "It's mostly next-generation 65- and 45-nm work, especially on high- and low-k [dielectric] materials....Popular customer requests include HF with ozone and HF with HCl [recipes]."

Rosato described some of the challenges faced during the Emersion's development. "At the beginning of the program, the problem was defining what a single-wafer tool had to do in a fab setting," since the single-wafer approach represented a new paradigm for the traditionally batch-oriented wet tool manufacturer. With budgets cut to the bone, the downturn did inspire ingenuity. "The prototype tools here were built from spares from batch tools we had in our warehouses....We literally stole parts off the batch tools that had been built but were never shipped due to cancellations."

Risto Puhakka, VLSI Research's vice president of operations, is familiar with both companies' launches. "One of the issues in Rudolph's case is that they are always in the shadow of KLA-Tencor; everything is measured against K-T.... K-T will do anything it can to defend its position, so the battle [for Rudolph] is uphill, big time.

"But this [launch] is actually the first serious attempt by somebody at differentiating their approach and products away from pure defect inspection, not just 'we'll build a better box than K-T and sell it....' The other question I have is, is 100% inspection really something you need to do? During the ramp, yes, but once you're running the fab, is it really needed? I don't have the answer to that."

As for SCP's prospects, Puhakka is somewhat optimistic. "There are so many suppliers in wet processing, it's hard to differentiate. This SCP immersion [tool] is one of the only ones I can think of that somehow could be differentiated....There are real issues on the critical cleaning side that single wafer may be the real answer to."

He also points out certain intellectual property advantages inherent in the SCP platform. "They have a lot of in-the-tool technology that they most likely have a strong IP protection for, which creates an opportunity that lasts for years."

In both products' cases though, Puhakka says it's too early to tell. "From my perspective, to believe it's a viable product, it's probably a year away until I would say, 'yeah, this is a great thing and it truly works,' because most likely I haven't talked to anybody who has it."—TC