STMicroelectronics orders MetaPULSE-II as it standardizes on PULSE technology for fabs worldwide
Flanders, N.J., March 17, 2004- Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: RTEC), a leading provider of thin film metrology and macrodefect inspection tools for semiconductor manufacturing, is pleased to announce that it has received the 100th order for its copper metal film metrology systems, the MetaPULSE® XCu and MetaPULSE-II™ XCu. This milestone order was placed by STMicroelectronics, where the MetaPULSE-II 200XCu will join other installed 200 and 300 mm MetaPULSE systems. The second-generation system was chosen for its versatility and applicability when measuring copper processes, including thin barrier layers and dishing and erosion during chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP).
According to Davide Lodi, Wet and Metrology Group Leader, STMicroelectronics, "We found the Rudolph MetaPULSE-II metrology system to be the most versatile tool available on the market for the metal metrology needs of our R&D Agrate fab in Italy," stated Lodi. "It has the capability to measure the wide range of different films and film thicknesses for the processes which will be required for our advanced R&D line. In addition, it will be able to monitor processes in our aluminum production line with the advantage of being compatible with other MetaPULSE systems at our sister fabs worldwide," he said.
STMicroelectronics owns multiple MetaPULSE systems that are being used for both copper and non-copper interconnect applications. STMicroelectronics has standardized on MetaPULSE for backend metrology applications and now adds the MetaPULSE-II to the common tool set.
"Like STMicroelectronics, virtually all of the top twenty semiconductor manufacturers have accepted PULSE Technology™ as the opaque film metrology of choice to support their high-volume manufacturing," said Nathan Little, Rudolph's senior vice president of operations. "This 100th order for a copper system is a testament to our ability to provide proven technology that meets the industry's evolving requirements for interconnect metrology at advanced technology nodes."
In 1999, Rudolph anticipated the switch from aluminum to copper interconnect wiring and created the XCu line that accurately and non-destructively measures copper thickness at production throughputs. Working with all of the top ten semiconductor manufacturers, the applications have been expanded to cover all stages of copper processing, from measuring ultrathin copper barriers to CMP process control. The MetaPULSE-II XCu is the second generation of this technology with advanced capabilities, enabling manufacturers to integrate the low-κ and ultralow-κ ILD materials required at the 65 and 45 nm technology nodes. The new EASy software provides measurement of the Young's modulus of these ILD materials - allowing CMP performance to be predicted - while new detection capabilities enable dishing and sub-micron line array erosion profiles, which can be used to tune CMP processes. Additional advanced capabilities enable the MetaPULSE-II to create electroplated copper edge profiles as well as monitor post-CMP residual copper or barrier.
About Rudolph Technologies, Inc.
Rudolph Technologies is a worldwide leader in the design, development, manufacture and support of high-performance process control metrology systems used by semiconductor device manufacturers. The Company provides a full-fab solution through its families of proprietary systems for metrology applications used throughout the device manufacturing process. Rudolph's product development has successfully anticipated and addressed many emerging trends that are driving the semiconductor industry's growth. The Company's success in creating complementary metrology applications through aggressive research and development is key to Rudolph's strategy for continued technological and market leadership. For more information visit the Rudolph Technology web site at http://rudolphtech.com.
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