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Press Release – June 18th, 2010 Enhanced Productivity and Higher Yields of PhotomasksMainz, June 18th, 2010 - NanoPhotonics, Mainz, Germany releases a new series of automatic mask inspectionsystems enabling higher inspection frequency at lower inspection cost per maskWith each technology node, the industry is facing an increase of complexity of advanced mask sets that leads to a steep increase of the photo mask cost. Consequently, yield control requires more inspection for un-patterned and patterned surfaces during photo mask manufacturing. Today about 35% of Photomask manufacturing costs are related to inspection. Inspection systems for patterned masks are very expensive and typically have a low throughput. Using these systems for inspection of non-patterned surfaces is a waist of time and cost and thus limiting the inspection frequency. To enable a higher frequency of inspection during Photomask manufacturing, NanoPhotonics has released its new AMX series of low cost, high throughput and high sensitivity automatic inspection systems for non-patterned mask blanks or non-patterned surfaces of photo masks: Frontside, backside, and pellicle inspection. The flexible tool set enables different applications to meet various customer needs. The AMX FSI is an automatic system for frontside inspection designed for frontend applications in mask shops: Typical applications are incoming quality inspection of mask blanks and continuous tool monitoring for particle adders during manufacturing, e.g. coaters, writers, etchers, cleaners. Detection of particles with sensitivity down to 65 nm, and high throughput are highlights of this tool. Valuable information on scratches, area defects, and surface roughness are generated simultaneously. Additionally, the AMX FSI system can be configured for backside inspection. Another configuration, the AMX PBI series is designed for 100% outgoing quality inspection of the pellicle and photo mask backside in the back end area of a mask shop. The combined dual function tool can measure the photo mask backside without need for flipping. Pellicle and backside are measured in parallel for high throughput. NanoPhotonics AMX inspection systems are suitable to replace high-end patterned mask inspection systems in mask shops, enabling higher inspection frequency at lower inspection cost per mask. Contact Information:  Defect maps of a pellicle and the back side of a photomask measured by the AMX inspection system. |
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