CMP Retaining Ring Carrier
Strasbaugh
San Luis Obispo, CA
The ViPRR variable-input pneumatic retaining ring produces uniformity to within 3 mm of the wafer's edge. For use on the company's Symphony-CMP and Model 6DS-SP CMP tools, the carrier can be employed for advanced planarization applications to 0.18 µm. It is made of corrosion-resistant titanium, which makes it compatible with most CMP slurries. The ring is made of PET, a thermoplastic polyester that demonstrates stiffness, chemical and abrasion resistance, and low center line porosity.
HEPA Filter
HEPAir
Syracuse, NY
A filter system combines all the features of a fan-powered filter module with a totally self-contained air conditioner. The unit fits into a standard 2 x 4-ft T-bar ceiling and contains all components in one package, including filter, blower, cooling coil, cooling fan, condenser coil, compressor, refrigerant piping, and controls. The module accepts most manufacturers' fan filter units. It can also be furnished with its own filter, and one unit can service several fan-powered filter modules. Options include prefilters, lights, humidifier, reheating coil, and pressurization control for positive or negative pressure.
Electrostatic Plasma Probe
Hiden Analytical
Warrington, England
Suitable for RF and dc plasma reactors, the ESP Langmuir electrostatic probe provides automatic measurement, real-time display, and storage of key plasma parameters. The system enables accurate identification of process changes, including plasma potential, ion densities, electron densities, and electron temperature. The small probe tip design and efficient RF compensation ensures that spatially resolved measurements can be obtained with minimal plasma disturbance. The probe monitors plasma stability and reproducibility from process to process and from run to run, and it rapidly detects changes in power/impedance, pressure, or gas concentrations. Windows-based software offers postprocessing functions for data analysis.
Wafer Inspection System
KLA-Tencor
San Jose, CA
Designed for inspecting wafers in CMP and other advanced interconnect processes, the ILM-2230 combines small-pixel, high-data-rate image processing with oblique-angle darkfield laser illumination for high-throughput production line monitoring. By reflecting light off the wafer at an angle instead of directly, darkfield illumination increases surface selectivity and suppresses noise caused by any granular features on the wafer surface. The tool's low-noise, high-speed sensor is specifically designed for darkfield illumination. The system can detect microscratches, residual metals and tungsten, pattern deformations, microbridging, and other yield-critical defects on devices with linewidths 
0.25 µm. Two advanced optical filtering techniques facilitate collection of nonrepetitive defect signals and block noise from vertical and horizontal lines. In addition, the company's proprietary segmented autothreshold image processing technique integrated in the system enhances defect detection sensitivity on wafers with the metal and color variations found in CMP and metal etch processes.
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0.15 µm on the reticle. The algorithms enable the inspection tool to detect improperly sized features such as lines and contacts. It also improves the operator's ability to detect edge defects. Software and hardware enhancements give the system the ability to examine defects on most advanced reticles, including those using optical proximity correction and phase-shift technologies. The tool's image-acquisition technology and detection algorithms minimize the risk of false defect detection. In addition, the system's DataExpress module reduces pattern data conversion time and maintains high throughput for all mask types.
