Nearfield Instruments

Semiconductor manufacturing requires precision at a nanometer scale. Every single element of a chip must be perfectly produced in order to ensure chip performance. But as chips become more complex, so, too, does the process control required to ensure that precision during manufacturing. Nearfield Instruments, a TNO Tech Transfer, developed a solution: non-destructive, 3D metrology using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). This revolutionary system delivers ultra-high-resolution at high-volume manufacturing throughput. Nearfield’s solution offers manufacturers better process insight to enable higher yields. The company aims to make manufacturers sustainably competitive, by making manufacturing competitively sustainable.

Recent studies indicate that increasing semiconductor yield by just 1% can save as much as 450 tons of waste, 37 million gallons of fresh water, and 22.5 million kilowatt hours of energy. However, the currently accepted processes for metrology and inspection cost a manufacturer roughly 5% of their yield per year. This is due to the fact that current process control metrology solutions require the destruction of a certain number of chips. Nearfield offers manufacturers the opportunity to gain clearer insight into their manufacturing precision with non-destructive techniques, thereby increasing their yield while decreasing waste.

The increased complexity of modern chips, including Gate-All-Around FETs, require metrology systems that can accurately account for their more complex structures and configurations. The current industry workhorses, optical and electron beam metrology, run into their limits regarding resolution and 3D measurement capability. With QUADRA, Nearfield’s on-surface metrology system, each specific layer can be measured with AFM technology, offering three-dimensional, atomic resolution insight, down to the nanometer level. With powerful measurement algorithms and data processing, QUADRA provides much more than raw data. It ensures that every layer of a chip that is measured meets exacting specifications, giving manufacturers total peace of mind. QUADRA offers true 3D measurements that take only a fraction of the time to complete compared to TEM metrology or state-of-the-art AFM solutions. And, perhaps most importantly, the measured chip is not destroyed, thereby increasing the yield of each production batch.

Chips are rapidly approaching the limit for how small they can get and how many circuits they can hold. Each time the dimensions are scaled, process control must become more accurate. With AUDIRA, Nearfield Instruments combines AFM atomic resolution with extremely high-frequency ultrasound to literally offer manufacturers a look inside their chips. This sub-surface metrology system can help drive the development and manufacturing of highly complex chips or those with metal layers that are impenetrable by optics or e-beams. But it is also essential technology for the measurement and production of hybrid bonded chips, which require ultimate precision to perform as needed. Given that hybrid bonded chips offer a primary solution for the increased demand in chip power, AUDIRA technology is positioned to be a key component for market leaders in this domain.