March 5, 2023
is based on a new approach developed in Israel, which makes it possible to simultaneously test all the layers in an advanced three-dimensional chip. According to the company, the system improves the speed and resolution of the imaging by about 30%
The global company Applied Materials (Applied Materials) announced a technological breakthrough in the field of chip manufacturing, which was developed and manufactured by the Process Diagnostics and Control division – PDC, which is the Israeli company of Applied Materials. The new solution was integrated into the eBeam-based metrology system model 10 VeritySEM which is manufactured in Rehovot, with the aim of measuring and checking with a high level of accuracy the critical dimensions in the structure of advanced chips. These tests are done during the production of the chip, in order to detect defects as soon as they appear and make repairs that will prevent the batch from being rejected.
The new approach was given the nickname 3D Patterning Control in Applied. It is based on the use of a unique eBeam microscope developed in Israel, which scans the chip using different electron beams at different intensities: a strong beam allows rapid measurement at a depth of several hundred nanometers and beams of variable intensities that are adapted to the features of the unique chip, and are transmitted at intensities that allow measurement of sensitive structures and materials for electron radiation, without destroying them.
In April 2022, Applied Materials held a training day for the chip industry, during which the manager of the company’s diagnostics and process control group, Ofer Aden, said that this technique is designed to deal with a new problem created by the transition to the production of complex three-dimensional structures, such as GAA transistors. Due to these dimensions, it is necessary to use Extreme UV radiation with a very short wavelength, but the photoresist layers in the EUV process are so thin that even the energy intensity of the electron microscope used to measure the process can distort the patterns.
Aden: “The VeritySEM system for EUV processes includes a low-energy technology that minimizes the interference to the photoresist, but improves the resolution of the resulting image. A number of customers are already using this system to ensure compliance with the critical dimensions (CD) in EUV processes and the uniformity of the pattern before moving to the burning stage.”
Published in the categories: news, semiconductors, Israeli industry
Posted in tags: applied materials, metrology, chips
