Dual 20 micron inspection modules provide small footprint, ultrafast performance for after develop lithography inspection
San Francisco, Calif., July 12, 2004 ― Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: RTEC), a leading provider of process control equipment for thin film measurement and macrodefect inspection during integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing, announced today the new WaferView® 320 Turbo macrodefect inspection tool at the Semicon/West show in San Francisco, Calif. (booth #1616).
The WaferView 320 Turbo can improve yield by offering ultrahigh throughput inspection of the front, back, and edge of wafers for lithography problems ― providing manufacturers the opportunity to rework and recover more wafers before they undergo subsequent irreversible processing steps. Each of its dual inspection modules can independently and simultaneously scan the entire front surface of a 300 mm wafer for defects 20 micrometers and larger in approximately 30 seconds. The WaferView 320 Turbo is part of Rudolph's WaferView Team™, which is the first system to make real-time, 100% inspection of every wafer at each critical process step economically viable. The WaferView Team includes WaferView standalone tools (320, 320 Turbo, and 325), i-MOD™ modules that integrate directly into track equipment, and the YieldView® server that coordinates the Team.
"The unique combination of standalone and integrated tools, plus the YieldView server, allows manufacturers, for the first time, to eliminate sampling strategies and perform 100% macrodefect inspection at the lowest CoO," said Christopher Morath, director of marketing, Rudolph Technologies. "The Turbo is an important new member of this Team, as it incorporates two inspection modules, each of which will match the i-MOD units throughout the fab, and advanced wafer handling capabilities. This allows a single small footprint Turbo to support more integrated modules and, with the on board ReviewScope™ microscope, eliminates the need to transport suspect wafers to a separate review station, significantly lowering the cost of defect inspection."
The WaferView 320 Turbo's on board ReviewScope drives directly to the defect location identified by an i-MOD system for rapid and efficient analysis, eliminating transportation and queuing delays between separate standalone inspection and review tools that typically can exceed half an hour with 300 mm automation. The Turbo can additionally create and optimize inspection recipes for i-MOD systems, allowing track equipment to run uninterrupted, and serve as a backup tool during i-MOD maintenance.
Morath adds, "The dual heads of the 320 Turbo essentially provide two tools in one, bringing a unique advantage to fab managers. They now have an indispensable and ultrafast tool that can help them recover wafers and significantly improve yield in lithography ― before the wafers go through subsequent, and unrecoverable, processing. Before the WaferView Team, 100% inspection could not be accomplished due to the prohibitive up front costs and footprint requirements of standalone inspection tools."
The WaferView 320 Turbo incorporates advanced features for macrodefect inspection of 300 mm wafers at 90 nm and below. The Turbo uses Rudolph's industry leading full color detection and classification technology that has been further enhanced with new capabilities to detect more types of color defects while automatically adapting to normal wafer to wafer and lot to lot process variations at all processing levels. For high throughput operation in a 300 mm fab, the Turbo is equipped with four wafer load ports that allow the Turbo to act as a wafer FOUP buffer and help to minimize transportation and queuing delays. It also features the InstaMatch™ software that quickly and automatically matches both inspection modules in the Turbo as well as other integrated and standalone modules throughout the fab or from fab to fab for high reliability detection, classification, and dispositioning.
About Rudolph Technologies, Inc.
Rudolph Technologies is a worldwide leader in the design, development, manufacture and support of high performance process control metrology and defect inspection systems used by semiconductor device manufacturers. The Company's products provide a full fab solution through its families of proprietary systems, which are 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 in order to enhance the competitiveness of its products in the marketplace. The Company's success in creating complementary metrology and inspection applications through aggressive research and development is key to Rudolph's strategy for continued technological and market leadership.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected due to a number of risks, including, but not limited to, the impact of the slowdown in the overall economy, the uncertainty of the current global political environment, the potential for terrorist attacks, the potential for business disruptions due to infectious diseases, changes in customer demands for our existing and new products, the timing, cancellation or delay of customer orders and shipments, the timing of revenue recognition of shipments, new product offerings from our competitors, changes in or an inability to execute Rudolph Technologies' business strategy, unanticipated manufacturing or supply problems and changes in tax rules. Rudolph Technologies cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. The matters discussed in this press release also involve risks and uncertainties summarized under the heading "Factors that May Affect Future Results" in Rudolph Technologies' Form 10-K filed for the year ended December 31, 2003. These factors are updated from time to time through the filing of reports and registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rudolph Technologies does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.