Precise measurement and characterisation of physical and electrical properties of materials and structures used in semiconductor devices.
Semiconductors are the backbone of modern technology, powering over 90% of all electronic devices – from smartphones and electric vehicles to AI systems and industrial automation.Â
As chip designs become more complex and components continue to shrink, semiconductor metrology plays a critical role in maintaining high yield, quality, and reliability during manufacturing.
It involves the precise measurement of a semiconductor’s physical properties, structures, and performance across the entire fabrication process.
This includes measuring parameters such as layer thickness, critical dimensions, surface roughness, and defect density at the nanometer scale. These measurements are essential for process control, quality assurance, and yield optimisation in semiconductor manufacturing.
Features:
Semiconductor manufacturing is among the most advanced and precise engineering processes globally. It converts raw materials into intricate microchips that drive modern technology. Metrology plays a vital role throughout every stage of chip fabrication.
Purified silicon is transformed into wafers, serving as the foundation for all transistor structures and the core building blocks of semiconductor chip manufacturing.
Key wafer metrology requirements include:
The wafer goes through hundreds or even thousands of high-precision steps to form the intricate transistor structures that determine the chip’s performance. In production metrology, accurately detecting defects and controlling structural parameters is essential for building reliable transistor architectures.
Key focus areas in metrology include:
The wafer is sliced into individual dies, which are then packaged and tested to ensure protection, reliable electrical connections, and optimal performance. Advanced metrology tools are used throughout back-end semiconductor processing to inspect steps such as:
Semiconductor manufacturing is among the most advanced and precise engineering processes globally. It converts raw materials into intricate microchips that drive modern technology. Metrology plays a vital role throughout every stage of chip fabrication.
Diamonds are carefully monitored for growth patterns that significantly impact their performance. To evaluate their structural integrity, precise morphological measurements are taken—often at micrometre or even nanometer scales. Interferometry technology plays a vital role in this process, as it excels at capturing fine surface details, particularly in areas with high aspect ratios and steep slopes, ensuring high accuracy and minimal measurement error.
Silicon carbide (SiC) wafers manufactured via Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) are subjected to topographical analysis to evaluate the consistency of lattice growth.
Interferometry technology is particularly well-suited for this task, offering high-precision measurements on ultra-smooth surfaces with variable elevations. This method delivers critical data that supports quality control throughout the SiC wafer production process.
The surface roughness of perovskites is a key indicator of manufacturing quality. Given the material’s exceptionally smooth nature, Interferometry is the preferred measurement technique due to its low measurement noise, reaching as low as 0.01 nm.
Precise control of film thickness is one of the most critical factors in semiconductor processing, as it directly impacts transistor performance and electrical isolation. Sensofar’s S neox system enables accurate film thickness measurements from 50 nanometers up to several millimetres, utilising both Interferometry and Spectroscopic Reflectometry.
Interferometry excels at measuring micron-thick films and step-height structures with nanometer-level precision. Meanwhile, Spectroscopic Reflectometry provides a fast, non-contact, and highly accurate solution for analyzing thin films in the 50 nm to 1.5 µm range.
Etching is a critical step in semiconductor manufacturing, involving the selective removal of material from a wafer to define circuit features. Precise profiling is vital to ensure proper taper angles and maintain feature integrity. To support this, 3D optical profilers offer a non-contact, high-resolution method for monitoring etch quality, enabling accurate measurement of etch depth, width, and overall profile geometry.
Chemical Mechanical Planarisation (CMP) is used to smooth and flatten the wafer surface, ensuring uniform thickness, a crucial factor in semiconductor metrology and manufacturing. Sensofar’s S mart 2 system has revealed that CMP pads are frequently discarded prematurely, with over half of their usable lifespan remaining.
The process is typically carried out in two stages – slotting followed by cutting – to minimise edge chipping. Precise metrology is essential for maintaining process efficiency and ensuring die quality. Tools such as the Cross Kerf and Wafer Groove Line series provide pass/fail reports based on critical parameters, helping determine whether a die meets the criteria for the second cut.
Flip-chip bonding depends on accurately formed bumps to ensure signal integrity and effective heat dissipation. This makes precise measurement and metrology essential for controlling bump height, shape, and coplanarity.
SensoPRO includes a specialised Bump plugin that automatically detects all bumps within a measurement and evaluates key critical parameters, delivering automated pass/fail reports to streamline quality control.
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