Silicon chip manufacturing is a complex process that requires a suite of advanced metrology tools that can measure wafer thickness, adhesive thickness, and parallelism between surfaces with sub-micron precision. Lumetrics has developed the OptiGauge II, a non-contact optical thickness measurement device that can measure wafer thickness and surface parallelism for bonded wafers and die. In this blog post, we’ll discuss how the OptiGauge II can help wafer manufacturers achieve their maximum potential.
The wafer and MEMS process is critical are applications ranging from microprocessors and memory to high-efficiency solar cells. To achieve the performance required, processes must meet stringent parameters. For example, without properly polished and consistent surfaces, bonding and other processing steps may be full of defects thereby decreasing yields.
The OptiGauge II uses a time domain low coherence interferometer to measuring at a 1310nm wavelength. This means it can “see-through” (measure) both polished and unpolished silicon wafers. When combined with a reference signal generator (RSG), the OptiGauge II provides wafer manufacturers a powerful metrology tool to ensure surface uniformity, flatness, and multi-layer thickness.
The OptiGauge II measures to sub-micron precision and Lumetrics’ custom software and available API allow for the easy creation of measurement recipes along with a custom user interface. The OptiGauge II can also be used in combination with an X/Y scanner or robot making it easy to repeatably characterize specific die.
Chip manufacturers must produce high-quality and consistent wafers to meet the demanding requirements of modern applications. Lumetrics continues to provide innovative optical metrology solutions such as the OptiGauge II, which can be used standalone or as an integrated metrology tool. We remain committed to producing state-of-the-art precision optical metrology solutions for a wide array of applications including chip manufacturing.
Watch our video about silicon wafer metrology here:
If you're interested in learning more about how Lumetrics can help solve your wafer measurement and inspection challenges, reach out to their sales or engineering team for more information.