KLA-Tencor intros Aleris 8330 film metrology tool

MILPITAS, USA: KLA-Tencor Corp. has introduced the latest addition to the Aleris family of film metrology tools.

The Aleris 8330 is a reliable, production worthy, low cost of ownership metrology solution for measuring thickness, refractive index and stress of non-critical* films at the 32nm node and beyond, complementing the existing Aleris 8350 system, which is designed to measure critical films.

The cost-effective Aleris 8330 and the high sensitivity Aleris 8350 form a comprehensive metrology solution for a broad range of film layers, helping fabs identify process issues and maintain high yield during production.

"Many semiconductor manufacturers have adopted the Aleris platform to take advantage of its high performance and extendibility, but want a low cost of ownership version of the tool to handle production monitoring for non-critical films. The Aleris 8330 provides a cost-effective means for fabs to adopt the Aleris platform, or for fabs with Aleris tools to expand and optimize their film measurement capacity," stated Ahmad Khan, vice president and general manager of KLA-Tencor's Films and Scatterometry Technology (FaST) Division.

"The Aleris 8330 provides improved throughput compared to our previous-generation ASET-F5x tools. Moreover, recipe sharing and tool matching among the different Aleris models facilitates a mix-and-match tool strategy that can help minimize production integration time and contribute to efficient fab operations. These attributes are appealing to all chipmakers, particularly to memory manufacturers who face exceptionally difficult market forces today."

The Aleris 8330 includes several features designed for cost-effective films process control:
* Patented Broadband Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (BBSE), white light reflectometry (WLR) and optional ultraviolet reflectometry (UVR) optics technologies built on an established platform are designed to produce the precision, stability and matching performance required for production monitoring of films.
* Up to 1.85x throughput increase compared to KLA-Tencor's previous generation film metrology tool provides low cost-of-ownership film process control.
* Recipe import from the previous generation platforms (ASET-F5x and SpectraFx) and remote recipe management ease tool integration into production.
* Recipe sharing among different Aleris tools facilitates a flexible process control strategy within a fab, covering both high-end and low-end film applications.
* Optional StressMapper provides advanced stress measurement capability, helping chipmakers identify process issues that can lead to cracked or delaminated films or cause overlay errors.
* Reliable, extendible architecture protects fabs' capital investments.

Aleris systems have been shipped to major semiconductor manufacturers worldwide, where the tools are being used for 2Xnm development and 4Xnm/3Xnm production. To maintain high performance and productivity, Aleris tools are backed by KLA-Tencor's global, comprehensive service network.

*Critical films, such as ultra-thin diffusion layers, typically have the smallest dimensions and narrowest process tolerances. Non-critical films, which comprise the majority of film layers in the semiconductor manufacturing process, have more tolerance for process variations and include layers such as inter-metal dielectrics, photoresists, bottom anti-reflective coatings, thick oxides and nitrides, and back end of line layers.